Image processing apparatus, image display apparatus and imaging apparatus having the same, image processing method, and computer-readable medium storing image processing program

ABSTRACT

An image processing apparatus receives an image signal and generates a display image having an image range associated with a display area of a display unit from an image based on the image signal. The image processing apparatus includes a position-of-interest-calculating-unit, a frame-out-accuracy-calculation-unit, an alteration-variable-decision-unit and an image-alteration-unit. The position-of-interest-calculating-unit calculates a position of interest as a position of an object of interest in the image. The frame-out-accuracy-calculation-unit calculates a frame-out accuracy representing an accuracy that the position of interest deviates from the image range based on the position of interest and the image range. The alteration-variable-decision-unit decides a processing variable of alteration processing performed with respect to the image in conformity with the frame-out accuracy. The image-alteration-unit performs the alteration processing with respect to the image in conformity with the decided processing variable to generate a signal of the display image.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is based upon and claims the benefit of priority fromprior Japanese Patent Applications No. 2010-246528, filed Nov. 2, 2010;No. 2010-246529, filed Nov. 2, 2010; No. 2011-013696, filed Jan. 26,2011; and No. 2011-231886, filed Oct. 21, 2011; the entire contents ofall of which are incorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to an image processing apparatus, an imagedisplay apparatus and an imaging apparatus having the same, an imageprocessing method, and an image processing program.

2. Description of the Related Art

When imaging an object of interest using, e.g., a digital camera, theobject of interest cannot be surely imaged unless this object ofinterest is present within the imaging range. Therefore, there has beenknown a technology that effects display for guiding a user so that anobject of interest can be placed within the imaging range.

For example, Japanese Patent No. 4029174 discloses a camera adopting thefollowing technology. That is, according to this technology, a cameraextracts a part of a contour of an object of interest based on luminancedistribution of an image that is obtained when the camera is aimed at asubject to be imaged, and it compares a position of the contour with apredetermined appropriate range to judge whether the composition isgood. When the composition is determined to be poor, the camera outputsa warning and displays an indication of which one of up, down, left, andright directions the camera should be aimed in to provide theappropriate composition in a display unit provided separately from animage display apparatus.

Further, Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 2008-278480 discloses animaging apparatus adopting the following technology. That is, accordingto this technology, the imaging apparatus displays a wide-angle imageand an image, which shows an enlarged imaging range of a part of thewide-angle image, in parallel. This apparatus detects a position of anobject of interest and informs a user of a direction the imagingapparatus should be aimed in so that the object of interest can bearranged within the enlarged image.

Furthermore, Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 2007-129480discloses an imaging apparatus adopting the following technology. Thatis, according to this technology, a moving image, which is beingacquired, is displayed in a screen of a display unit. This apparatustraces movement of an object of interest and displays, e.g., a guidethat shows a direction in which the object of interest, which has movedto the outside of the screen, is present when the traced object ofinterest deviates from the range of a screen of the display unit and hasan arrow pattern and the like in the display unit while beingsuperimposed on the moving image.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

According to an aspect of the invention, an image processing apparatuswhich receives an image signal and generates a display image having animage range associated with a display area of a display unit from animage based on the image signal includes a position-of-interestcalculating unit which calculates a position of interest as a positionof an object of interest in the image based on the image signal; aframe-out accuracy calculation unit which calculates a frame-outaccuracy representing an accuracy that the position of interest deviatesfrom the image range based on the position of interest and the imagerange; an alteration variable decision unit which decides a processingvariable of alteration processing performed with respect to the imagebased on the image signal in conformity with the frame-out accuracy; andan image alteration unit which performs the alteration processing withrespect to the image based on the image signal in conformity with thedecided processing variable to generate a signal of the display image.

According to an aspect of the invention, an image display apparatusincludes the above mentioned image processing apparatus; and the displayunit which displays the display image generated by the image processingapparatus.

According to an aspect of the invention, an imaging apparatus includesthe above mentioned image processing apparatus; and an imaging unitwhich performs imaging to generate the image signal that is input to theimage processing apparatus.

According to an aspect of the invention, an image processing method ofgenerating a display image having an image range associated with adisplay area of a display unit from an image based on an input imagesignal includes: calculating a position of interest which is a positionof an object of interest in the image based on the image signal;calculating a frame-out accuracy representing an accuracy that theposition of interest deviates from the image range based on the positionof interest and the image range; deciding a processing variable ofalteration processing performed with respect to the image based on theimage signal in conformity with the frame-out accuracy; and performingthe alteration processing with respect to the image based on the imagesignal in conformity with the decided processing variable to generate asignal of the display image.

According to an aspect of the invention, a computer-readable mediumstores an image processing program being executed by a computer andconfigured to generate a display image having an image range associatedwith a display area of a display unit from an image based on an inputimage signal, the program controlling the computer to execute functionsincluding: calculating a position of interest which is a position of anobject of interest in the image based on the image signal; calculating aframe-out accuracy representing an accuracy that the position ofinterest deviates from the image range based on the position of interestand the image range; deciding a processing variable of alterationprocessing performed with respect to the image based on the image signalin conformity with the frame-out accuracy; and performing the alterationprocessing with respect to the image based on the image signal inconformity with the decided processing variable to generate a signal ofthe display image.

Advantages of the invention will be set forth in the description whichfollows, and in part will be obvious from the description, or may belearned by practice of the invention. The advantages of the inventionmay be realized and obtained by means of the instrumentalities andcombinations particularly pointed out hereinafter.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute apart of the specification, illustrate embodiments of the invention, andtogether with the general description given above and the detaileddescription of the embodiments given below, serve to explain theprinciples of the invention.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of a digitalcamera as an imaging apparatus including an image processing apparatusaccording to a first embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing a processing example of the imageprocessing apparatus according to the first embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 3 is a view showing an image example after change processingexecuted by the image processing apparatus according to the firstembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a view showing an image example after the change processingexecuted by the image processing apparatus according to the firstembodiment of the present invention, which is also a view for explainingthat the change processing performed with respect to an image differsdepending on a position of an object of interest;

FIG. 5 is a view showing an image example created by the imageprocessing apparatus according to the first embodiment of the presentinvention, which is also a view for explaining that the changeprocessing is not performed with respect to an image when the object ofinterest is present at the center;

FIG. 6 is a view showing an image example created after the changeprocessing executed by the image processing apparatus according to thefirst embodiment of the present invention and also showing a displaystate corresponding to a state in which deviation of the object ofinterest is large;

FIG. 7 is a view showing an image example created after the changeprocessing executed by the image processing apparatus according to thefirst embodiment of the present invention, which is also an imageexample after the change processing in a situation in which the objectof interest further deviates;

FIG. 8 is a view showing an image example after change processingexecuted by the image processing apparatus according to a firstmodification of the first embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 9 is a view showing another image example after change processingexecuted by the image processing apparatus according to the firstmodification of the first embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 10 is a view showing yet another image example after changeprocessing executed by the image processing apparatus according to thefirst modification of the first embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 11 is a view showing another image example after change processingexecuted by the image processing apparatus according to the firstmodification of the first embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 12A is a view showing a first example of an image created afterchange processing executed by an image processing apparatus according toa second modification of the first embodiment of the present invention,the change processing relating to a state of an object of interest;

FIG. 12B is a view showing a second example of an image created afterchange processing executed by the image processing apparatus accordingto the second modification of the first embodiment of the presentinvention, the change processing relating to a state of an object ofinterest;

FIG. 12C is a view showing a third example of an image created afterchange processing executed by the image processing apparatus accordingto the second modification of the first embodiment of the presentinvention, the change processing relating to a state of an object ofinterest;

FIG. 13 is a flowchart showing a processing example of an imageprocessing apparatus according to a third modification of the firstembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 14A is a view showing a first example of an image created afterchange processing executed by the image processing apparatus accordingthe third modification of the first embodiment of the present inventionwhen a position of an object of interest is close to the center of animage range;

FIG. 14B is a view showing a second example of an image created afterthe change processing executed by the image processing apparatusaccording to the third modification of the first embodiment of thepresent invention when the position of the object of interest is farfrom the center of the image range;

FIG. 15 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of a digitalcamera as an imaging apparatus including an image processing apparatusaccording to a second embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 16 is a flowchart showing a processing example of the imageprocessing apparatus according to the second embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 17 is a view showing an image example after adding an effectcreated by the image processing apparatus according to the secondembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 18 is a view showing an image example created by the imageprocessing apparatus according to the second embodiment of the presentinvention, which is also a view for explaining that the effect is notadded to an image when an object of interest is present near the center;

FIG. 19 is a view showing an image example after adding the effectcreated by the image processing apparatus according to the secondembodiment of the present invention in another situation;

FIG. 20A is a view showing a first example of an image after adding aneffect created by an image processing apparatus according to a firstmodification of the second embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 20B is a view showing a second example of an image after adding aneffect created by an image processing apparatus according to a firstmodification of the second embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 21 is a view showing an image example after adding an effectcreated by an image processing apparatus according to a secondmodification of the second embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 22 is a view showing another image example after adding an effectcreated by the image processing apparatus according to the secondmodification of the second embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 23A is a view showing a first example of an image after adding aneffect created by an image processing apparatus according a thirdmodification of the second embodiment of the present invention when aposition of an object of interest is close to the center of an imagerange;

FIG. 23B is a view showing a first example of an image after adding aneffect created by the image processing apparatus according the thirdmodification of the second embodiment of the present invention when theposition of the object of interest is far from the center of the imagerange;

FIG. 24A is a view showing a second example of an image after adding aneffect created by the image processing apparatus according the thirdmodification of the second embodiment of the present invention when aposition of an object of interest is close to the center of an imagerange;

FIG. 24B is a view showing a second example of an image after adding aneffect created by the image processing apparatus according the thirdmodification of the second embodiment of the present invention when theposition of the object of interest is far from the center of the imagerange;

FIG. 25A is a view showing a third example of an image after adding aneffect created by the image processing apparatus according the thirdmodification of the second embodiment of the present invention when aposition of an object of interest is close to the center of an imagerange;

FIG. 25B is a view showing a third example of an image after adding aneffect created by the image processing apparatus according the thirdmodification of the second embodiment of the present invention when theposition of the object of interest is far from the center of the imagerange;

FIG. 26 is a view showing an image example created by the imageprocessing apparatus when the first embodiment and the second embodimentaccording to the present invention are combined with each other;

FIG. 27 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of a digitalcamera as an imaging apparatus including an image processing apparatusaccording to a third embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 28 is a flowchart showing a processing example of the imageprocessing apparatus according to the third embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 29A is a view showing an image example before deformationprocessing executed by the image processing apparatus according to thethird embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 29B is a view showing an image example after deformation processingexecuted by the image processing apparatus according to the thirdembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 30A is a view showing a first example of an image created after thedeformation processing executed by the image processing apparatusaccording to the third embodiment of the present invention, which isalso a view for explaining that the deformation processing performedwith respect to an image differs depending on a position of an object ofinterest;

FIG. 30B is a view showing a second example of an image created afterthe deformation processing executed by the image processing apparatusaccording to the third embodiment of the present invention, which isalso a view for explaining that the deformation processing performedwith respect to an image differs depending on a position of an object ofinterest;

FIG. 30C is a view showing a third example of an image created after thedeformation processing executed by the image processing apparatusaccording to the third embodiment of the present invention, which isalso a view for explaining that the deformation processing performedwith respect to an image differs depending on a position of an object ofinterest;

FIG. 31 is a view showing an image example created after the deformationprocessing executed by the image processing apparatus according to thethird embodiment of the present invention in another situation;

FIG. 32A is a view showing an image example before deformationprocessing executed by an image processing apparatus according to afirst modification of the third embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 32B is a view showing an image example after deformation processingexecuted by the image processing apparatus according to the firstmodification of the third embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 33 is a view showing an image example after deformation processingexecuted by an image processing apparatus according to a secondmodification of the third embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 34 is a view showing an image example created by the imageprocessing apparatus when the first embodiment and the third embodimentaccording to the present invention are combined with each other;

FIG. 35 is a view showing an image example created by the imageprocessing apparatus when the second embodiment and the third embodimentaccording to the present invention are combined with each other;

FIG. 36 is a view showing an image example created by the imageprocessing apparatus when the first embodiment, the second embodimentand the third embodiment according to the present invention are combinedwith each other;

FIG. 37 is a flowchart showing a processing example of an imageprocessing apparatus according to a fourth embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 38A is a view showing an image example created after changeprocessing executed by the image processing apparatus according to thefourth embodiment of the present invention, which is an example when amovement speed of an object of interest is low;

FIG. 38B is a view showing an image example created after the changeprocessing executed by the image processing apparatus according to thefourth embodiment of the present invention, which is an example when themovement speed of the object of interest is high;

FIG. 39 is a flowchart showing a processing example of an imageprocessing apparatus according to a fifth embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 40A is a view showing an image example created after adding aneffect executed by the image processing apparatus according to the fifthembodiment of the present invention, which is an example when an objectof interest is moving at a speed that is higher than a predeterminedspeed;

FIG. 40B is a view showing an image example created after adding aneffect executed by the image processing apparatus according to the fifthembodiment of the present invention, which is an example when an objectof interest is moving at a speed that is lower than or equal to thepredetermined speed;

FIG. 41A is a view showing an image example created after adding aneffect executed by an image processing apparatus according to a firstmodification of the fifth embodiment of the present invention, which isan example when a movement speed of an object of interest is high;

FIG. 41B is a view showing an image example created after adding aneffect executed by the image processing apparatus according to the firstmodification of the fifth embodiment of the present invention, which isa first example when the movement speed of the object of interest islow;

FIG. 41C is a view showing an image example created after adding aneffect executed by the image processing apparatus according to the firstmodification of the fifth embodiment of the present invention, which isa second example when the movement speed of the object of interest islow;

FIG. 42 is a view showing an image example after adding an effectcreated by an image processing apparatus according to a secondmodification of the second embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 43 is a view showing another image example after adding an effectcreated by an image processing apparatus according to a secondmodification of the second embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 44 is a flowchart showing a processing example of an imageprocessing apparatus according to a sixth embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 45A is a view showing an image example created after the changeprocessing executed by the image processing apparatus according to thesixth embodiment of the present invention, which is an example when amovement speed of an object of interest is high;

FIG. 45B is a view showing an image example created after the changeprocessing executed by the image processing apparatus according to thesixth embodiment of the present invention, which is an example when themovement speed of the object of interest is low;

FIG. 46 is a flowchart showing a processing example of an imageprocessing apparatus according to a seventh embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 47 is a view showing an image example after change processingcreated by the image processing apparatus according to the seventhembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 48 is a view showing another image example after change processingcreated by the image processing apparatus according to the seventhembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 49 is a flowchart showing a processing example of an imageprocessing apparatus according to an eighth embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 50 is a view showing an image example after adding an effectcreated by the image processing apparatus according to the eighthembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 51 is a flowchart showing a processing example of an imageprocessing apparatus according to a ninth embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 52 is a view showing an image example after deformation processingcreated by the image processing apparatus according to the ninthembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 53 is a flowchart showing a processing example of an imageprocessing apparatus according to a 10th embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 54 is a view showing an image example after change processingcreated by the image processing apparatus according to the 10thembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 55 is a flowchart showing a processing example of an imageprocessing apparatus according to an 11th embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 56 is a view showing an image example after adding an effectcreated by the image processing apparatus according to the 11thembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 57 is a view showing an image example created by the imageprocessing apparatus when the tenth embodiment and the 11th embodimentaccording to the present invention are combined with each other;

FIG. 58 is a flowchart showing a processing example of an imageprocessing apparatus according to a 12th embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 59 is a view showing an image example after deformation processingcreated by the image processing apparatus according to the 12thembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 60 is a view showing an image example created by an imageprocessing apparatus when the 10th embodiment and the 12th embodimentaccording to the present invention are combined with each other, whichis an example that change processing of filling a change region with ablack color is also executed;

FIG. 61 is a view showing an image example created by the imageprocessing apparatus when the 10th embodiment and the 12th embodimentaccording to the present invention are combined with each other, whichis an example that change processing of changing luminance of the changeregion is also executed;

FIG. 62 is a view showing an image example created by the imageprocessing apparatus when the 10th embodiment and the 12th embodimentaccording to the present invention are combined with each other, whichis an example that change processing of changing luminance of the changeregion is also executed;

FIG. 63 is a view showing an image example created by the imageprocessing apparatus when the 10th embodiment and the 12th embodimentaccording to the present invention are combined with each other, whichis an example that change processing of changing resolution of thechange region is also executed;

FIG. 64 is a view showing an image example created by the imageprocessing apparatus when the 10th embodiment and the 12th embodimentaccording to the present invention are combined with each other, whichis an example that change processing of changing sharpness of the changeregion is also executed;

FIG. 65 is a view showing an image example created by the imageprocessing apparatus when the 10th embodiment and the 12th embodimentaccording to the present invention are combined with each other, whichis an example that change processing of changing contrast of the changeregion is also executed;

FIG. 66 is a view showing an image example created by the imageprocessing apparatus when the 11th embodiment and the 12th embodimentaccording to the present invention are combined with each other;

FIG. 67 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of a digitalcamera as an imaging apparatus including an image processing apparatusaccording to a 13th embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 68 is a block diagram showing another configuration example of adigital camera as an imaging apparatus including an image processingapparatus according to a 13th embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 69 is a block diagram showing yet another configuration example ofa digital camera as an imaging apparatus including an image processingapparatus according to a 13th embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 70 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of a digitalcamera as an imaging apparatus including an image processing apparatusaccording to a 14th embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 71 is a flowchart showing a processing example of a main controlleraccording to the 14th embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 72 is a view showing an image example after change processingcreated by the image processing apparatus according to the 14thembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 73 is a flowchart showing a processing example of a main controlleraccording to a modification of the 14th embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 74 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of aendoscope as an imaging apparatus including an image processingapparatus according to a 15th embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 75 is a block diagram showing another configuration example of aendoscope as an imaging apparatus including an image processingapparatus according to a 15th embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 76 is a block diagram showing yet another configuration example ofa endoscope as an imaging apparatus including an image processingapparatus according to a 15th embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 77 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of amicroscope as an imaging apparatus including an image processingapparatus according to a 15th embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 78 is a block diagram showing another configuration example of amicroscope as an imaging apparatus including an image processingapparatus according to a 15th embodiment of the present invention; and

FIG. 79 is a block diagram showing yet another configuration example ofa microscope as an imaging apparatus including an image processingapparatus according to a 15th embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION First Embodiment

A first embodiment according to the present invention will be firstdescribed with reference to the drawings. In this embodiment, an imageprocessing apparatus according to the present invention is applied to adigital camera.

FIG. 1 shows a configuration of a digital camera as an imaging apparatusincluding an image processing apparatus according to this embodiment. Asshown in the drawing, this digital camera includes an image processingapparatus 110 according to this embodiment. The image processingapparatus 110 has an object-of-interest detection unit 112, a frame-outaccuracy judgment unit 114, a change value decision unit 116, and adisplay image processing unit 118. Further, this digital camera includesan imaging unit 122, an image signal generation unit 124, a display unit126, and a main controller 128. It is to be noted that, although notshown in particular, this digital camera naturally includes an operationunit, a recording unit, and others equal to those in a digital camera.

The imaging unit 122 converts a subject image formed by, e.g., anon-illustrated lens into an electrical signal based on photoelectricconversion and performs digital conversion with respect to thiselectrical signal to create raw data. The imaging unit 122 outputs thecreated raw data to the image signal generation unit 124. The imagesignal generation unit 124 executes processing, e.g., full-colorization,color balance adjustment, gradation adjustment, noise removal, edgeenhancement, amplification, and others to generate an image signal(image data D).

The image data D created by the image signal generation unit 124 isinput to the image processing apparatus 110. The object-of-interestdetection unit 112 in the image processing apparatus 110 specifies aposition of an object of interest in an image represented by the imagedata D. Here, the object-of-interest detection unit 112 can specify aposition of the object of interest using, e.g., a known templatematching technology. For example, this unit can recognize a face or aperson and specify a position of the face or the person which is theobject of interest. Further, it can extract a contour in an image andobtains its motion vector to trace a position of the object of interest.The object-of-interest detection unit 112 outputs the specified positionof the object of interest to the frame-out accuracy judgment unit 114.

The position of the object of interest specified by theobject-of-interest detection unit 112 is input to the frame-out accuracyjudgment unit 114. The frame-out accuracy judgment unit 114 calculatesan accuracy and a frame-out direction related to the occurrence offrame-out of the object of interest from an image range based oninformation of the position of the object of interest input from theobject-of-interest detection unit 112, the image range corresponding to,e.g., an imaging range where the imaging unit 122 performs imaging andalso a region of an image displayed in the display unit 126. Theframe-out accuracy judgment unit 114 outputs the calculated accuracy anddirection that the frame-out of the object of interest from the imagerange occurs to the change value decision unit 116.

The change value decision unit 116 receives from the frame-out accuracyjudgment unit 114 the accuracy and the direction related to theoccurrence of frame-out of the object of interest from the image range.The change value decision unit 116 decides a processing region which isa region that is changed in a display image and a change made to theprocessing region based on the accuracy and the direction related to theoccurrence of frame-out of the object of interest from the image rangeinput from the frame-out accuracy judgment unit 114. The change valuedecision unit 116 outputs the decided processing region and changeapplied to the processing region to the display image processing unit118.

The display image processing unit 118 receives the processing region andthe change applied to the processing region input from the change valuedecision unit 116. Further, the display image processing unit 118receives the image data D from the image signal generation unit 124. Thedisplay image processing unit 118 executes change processing withrespect to the processing region to create changed image data D′. Thedisplay image processing unit 118 outputs the changed image data D′ tothe display unit 126.

The display unit 126 displays a live view display image in accordancewith a video signal based on the changed image data D′ output from thedisplay image processing unit 118. The display unit 126 also displaysvarious kinds of images, e.g., an indication concerning any otheroperation. The main controller 128 is connected to the respective unitsof this digital camera and controls the respective units.

As described above, the object-of-interest detection unit 112 functionsas, e.g., a position-of-interest calculation unit, the frame-outaccuracy judgment unit 114 functions as, e.g., a frame-out accuracycalculation unit, the change value decision unit 116 functions as, e.g.,an alteration variable decision unit and a change processing decisionunit, and the display image processing unit 118 functions as, e.g., animage alteration unit. Further, the imaging unit 122 and the imagesignal generation unit 124 function as, e.g., an imaging unit whichperforms imaging to generate an image signal that is input to the imageprocessing apparatus, and the display unit 126 functions as, e.g., adisplay unit which displays a display image generated by the imageprocessing apparatus. Furthermore, for example, the image data Dfunctions as an image signal, and the changed image data D′ functions asa display image.

An operation of this embodiment will now be described with reference tothe drawings. An outline of the operation of this embodiment will befirst explained. In this embodiment, the object of interest is a person.The center of gravity of this person in an image is determined as aposition of the object of interest. Based on this position of the objectof interest, the image processing apparatus 110 determines a possibilityof frame-out of the object of interest from the image range displayed inthe display unit 126. The image processing apparatus 110 determines thepossibility that the frame-out of the object of interest occurs based ona distance between the center of the image range and the position of theobject of interest. That is, in this embodiment, the image processingapparatus 110 determines the possibility of the frame-out increases asthe center of gravity of the object of interest gets away from thecenter of the image range. Further, in this embodiment, the imageprocessing apparatus 110 determines that the frame-out of the object ofinterest may possibility occur in a direction extending from the centerof the image range toward the center of gravity of the object ofinterest. When it is determined that the frame-out of the person as theobject of interest may highly possibly occur, the image processingapparatus 110 performs the change processing with respect to a displayimage. In this embodiment, as the change processing, change processingof filling the vicinity of a position symmetrical to a position of theobject of interest with respect the center of the image range with ablack color is performed.

Each operation will now be described. The imaging unit 122 converts asubject image formed by, e.g., a non-illustrated lens into an electricalsignal based on photoelectric conversion and performs digital conversionwith respect to this electrical signal to create raw data. The imagingunit 122 outputs the created raw data to the image signal generationunit 124. The image signal generation unit 124 carries out processingsuch as full-colorization, color balance adjustment, gradationadjustment, noise removal, edge enhancement, or amplification togenerate an image signal (the image data D). The image signal generationunit 124 outputs the generated image data D to the image processingapparatus 110.

The processing of the image processing apparatus 110 will now bedescribed with reference to a flowchart depicted in FIG. 2. At a stepS101, the object-of-interest detection unit 112 receives the image dataD created by the image signal generation unit 124 and specifies aposition of the object of interest which is a marked subject in an imagerepresented by the image data D. In this embodiment, since the object ofinterest is a person, the object of interest detection unit 112recognizes the person using a known template matching technique. Theobject of interest detection unit 112 specifies the center of gravity ofthe person in the image as the position of the object of interest. Theobject-of-interest detection unit 112 outputs the specified position ofthe object of interest to the frame-out accuracy judgment unit 114.

At the step S102, the frame-out accuracy judgment unit 114 calculates adistance between the center of the image range as a region of the imagedisplayed in the display unit 126 and the center of gravity of theobject of interest in the image represented by the image data D based onthe position of the object of interest specified by theobject-of-interest detection unit 112.

At a step S103, the frame-out accuracy judgment unit 114 judges whetherthe distance between the center of the image range and the center ofgravity of the object of interest is equal to or below a predeterminedvalue. When the distance between the center of the image range and thecenter of gravity of the object of interest is equal to or below thepredetermined value, the frame-out accuracy judgment unit 114 determinesthat the frame-out does not occur and outputs a result of this judgmentto the change value decision unit 116. At a step S104, the change valuedecision unit 116 decides not to execute the change processing withrespect to the input image data D based on this result of the judgment.In response to this decision, the display image processing unit 118directly outputs the image data D to the display unit 126 as the changedimage data D′. As a result, the display unit 126 displays an image basedon the changed image data D′ which is the image data D.

On the other hand, at the step S103, when it is determined that thedistance between the center of the image range and the center of gravityof the object of interest is not equal to or below the predeterminedvalue, the frame-out accuracy judgment unit 114 outputs the distancebetween the center of the image range and the center of gravity of theobject of interest and the position of the object of interest to thechange value decision unit 116. At a step S105, the change valuedecision unit 116 decides a processing region which is a region wherethe display image is filled with a black color. Here, the processingregion is determined as a region connected with the position symmetricalwith the position of the object of interest with respect to the centerof the display image. Furthermore, an area of the processing region isenlarged as the distance between the center of the image range and thecenter of gravity of the object of interest is increased. The changevalue decision unit 116 outputs the decided processing region andinformation indicating that the changing processing is to fill with theblack color to the display image processing unit 118. As describedabove, for example, the distance between the center of the image rangeand the center of gravity of the object of interest functions as aframe-out accuracy representing an accuracy that the object of interestdeviates from the image range.

At a step S106, the display image processing unit 118 executes thechange processing with respect to the image in such a manner that theprocessing region calculated by the change value decision unit 116 inthe display image is filled with the black color with respect to theimage data D. The display image processing unit 118 outputs the changedimage data D′, which is data of the image after the change processing,to the display unit 126.

The display unit 126 displays the image after the change processingbased on the changed image data D′ input from the display imageprocessing unit 118.

FIG. 3 shows an image example after the change processing. In an imageshown in FIG. 3, a person as an object of interest OI is biased to theleft end of a display area DA. A distance between the object of interestOI and the center of the display area DA, i.e., the image range isgreater than a predetermined value. At this time, a processing region PRassociated with the distance between the object of interest OI and thecenter of the display image is set on the right side of the display areaDA, which is a position symmetrical to the object of interest OI withrespect to the center of the image range, and change of filling theprocessing region PR with a black color is carried out. This processingregion PR is set to be enlarged as the distance between the center ofthe image range and the center of gravity of the object of interest OIis increased. Therefore, when the object of interest OI is close to thecenter of the image range as compared with the example shown in FIG. 3,the processing region PR is narrowed as shown in, e.g., FIG. 4.

For example, when a user again aims the digital camera in such a mannerthat the object of interest OI can be placed at the center of thedisplay screen, the distance between the object of interest OI and thecenter of the display image is equal to or below the predeterminedvalue. As a result, the display image processing unit 118 outputs theinput image data to the display unit 126 without performing the changeprocessing on this data at the step S104. At this time, the display unit126 displays such an image having no portion filled with the black coloras shown in FIG. 5, for example.

A situation in which the user holds the digital camera and confirmsframing while observing the display unit 126 will now be considered. Asdescribed above, according to this embodiment, when the object ofinterest, e.g., a person is biased to an end of the display area, thedisplay unit 126 displays an image in which a side of the display areaopposed to the object of interest is changed to the black color. Theuser who observes the image having a portion changed to the black colorin this manner pans the digital camera toward the object of interestside to eliminate the portion changed to the black color. As a result,the image displayed in the display unit 126 enters a state that is notsubjected to the change processing.

As described above, according to this embodiment, the digital camerahaving the image processing apparatus 110 can guide the user in such amanner that the object of interest can be always placed within thedisplay area. At this time, since a display image obtained by performingthe change processing on the acquired image displayed in the displayunit 126 shows a direction that the digital camera is aimed in, the userdoes not have to set a viewpoint to other positions than the displayunit 126. Further, the image displayed in the display unit 126 is notcomplicated. That is, the user can take a picture while observing thedisplay unit. The display image displayed here represents a resultobtained by making a prediction of whether frame-out of the object ofinterest occurs. Therefore, according to this embodiment, the frame-outof the object of interest can be avoided.

It is to be noted that a state in which the overall object of interestis placed within the display image has been described in thisembodiment, but the object of interest OI does not have to be placedwithin the display area DA as shown in, e.g., FIG. 6. That is, when theobject-of-interest detection unit 112 can specify a position of theobject of interest even if the position is present outside the imagerange displayed in the display unit 126, the image processing apparatus110 can execute the same processing in accordance with the position ofthe object of interest outside the display image. A situation in whichthe range of an image acquired by the imaging unit 122 is wider than aregion displayed in the display unit 126 corresponds to this case. Thatis, even if the entire object of interest is not present within thedisplay image range but the entire object of interest falls within therange of an image acquired by the imaging unit 122, theobject-of-interest detection unit 112 can specify the position of theobject of interest. Furthermore, a situation in which theobject-of-interest detection unit 112 can trace the object of interestand specify a position of this object if a part of the object ofinterest is partially included in the image data D corresponds to thiscase. Moreover, when the object of interest is out of the image range asdescribed above, the position of the object of interest OI may beindicated by a shape of the processing region PR as shown in FIG. 7.

The object-of-interest detection unit 112 is configured to receive theimage signal (the image data D) processed by the image signal generationunit 124 in the description of this embodiment, but the raw data outputfrom the imaging unit 122 may be directly input to theobject-of-interest detection unit 112 as the image signal. In this case,the object-of-interest detection unit 112 may be configured to specify aposition of the object of interest based on the raw data.

Further, in this embodiment, although the center of the image range isutilized as a reference for obtaining a positional relationship betweenthe image range and the position of the object of interest, the presentinvention is not restricted to the center, and any other portion may beused as a reference. For example, a square including the center of theimage range may be defined, and each side of the square may bedetermined as a reference to calculate a distance from a object ofinterest. Further, a circle including the center of the image range isdefined, and a distance from the object of interest may be calculatedbased on a circumference of the circle. Furthermore, although theposition of the object of interest is determined as the center ofgravity of the object of interest, the present invention is notrestricted thereto. For example, when the object of interest is aperson, a position of a face may be determined as the position of theobject of interest, a rim of the person in an image may be determined asthe position of the object, or any other reference may be provided asthe position. Moreover, the object of interest is not restricted to aperson, and it may be understandably an animal, a vehicle, or any othermatter. Additionally, although the method of detecting the object ofinterest by the object-of-interest detection unit 112 is exemplified bythe template matching in the description of this embodiment, any methodcan be adopted as long as it is a method that can extract the object ofinterest from an image.

Further, the color that fills the processing region is the black colorin this embodiment, but it may be a white color or any other color as amatter of course. Furthermore, the predetermined value used for thejudgment at the step S103 may be set to 0, and a threshold value may notbe provided for the judgment on whether the change processing is to beexecuted.

First Modification of First Embodiment

A first modification of the first embodiment according to the presentinvention will now be described. Here, a difference of this modificationfrom the first embodiment will be explained, and like reference numeralsdenote like parts to omit description thereof. In the first embodiment,as shown in FIG. 3, the change of an image made by the display imageprocessing unit 118 at the step S106 is a change of filling theprocessing region calculated by the change value decision unit 116 withthe black color. On the other hand, in this modification, any otherchange is made to the inside of the processing region.

As an example of this modification, as shown in FIG. 8, luminance of aprocessing region PR in a display image is decreased by a predeterminedamount. As another example of this modification, as shown in FIG. 9,resolution of the processing region PR is decreased by a predeterminedamount. To decrease the resolution, for example, values of four pixelsadjacent to each other may be averaged, and the obtained value may beassigned to the pixel values of these four pixels. Moreover, as stillanother example of this modification, as shown in FIG. 10, sharpness ofthe processing region PR is decreased by a predetermined amount. Todecrease the sharpness, for example, shading processing for changing anintensity of a low-pass filter can be executed. Additionally, as yetanother example of this modification, as shown in FIG. 11, a contrast ofthe processing region PR is decreased by a predetermined amount. Todecrease the contrast, for example, a difference between ahigh-luminance signal and a low-luminance signal can be decreased.Further, as a further example of this modification, chroma is decreasedby a predetermined amount to realize display close to gray. Furthermore,as a still further example of this modification, a hue is changed by apredetermined amount.

As described above, various changes may be made to a display image;e.g., the decrease of luminance, the decrease of resolution, thedecrease of sharpness, the decrease of contrast, the decrease of chroma,or the change of a hue. A type of change to be used may be decided inadvance, or a type of change input from, e.g., a user may be used.Further, the change value decision unit 116 may decide a type of changebased on predetermined judgment criteria.

In this modification, at the step S105, the change value decision unit116 calculates a processing region like the first embodiment. The changevalue decision unit 116 outputs the calculated processing region to thedisplay image processing unit 118. Furthermore, the change valuedecision unit 116 outputs information indicating that the changeprocessing is filling with the black color in the first embodiment, buta type of change and a predetermined amount of change, e.g., a decreaseamount of luminance are output to the display image processing unit 118instead. At the step S106, the display image processing unit 118executes the change processing with respect to a display image based onthe processing region, the type of change, and the amount of changeinput from the change value decision unit 116. For example, at the stepS106, the display image processing unit 118 executes processing ofreducing luminance in the processing region by an amount of change. Anyother processing other than the processing executed by the change valuedecision unit 116 at the step S105 and the processing performed by thedisplay image processing unit 118 at the step S106 is equal to that inthe first embodiment.

According to this modification, likewise, when the object of interestgets away from the center of the image range, the image in the displayarea is changed. As a result, a user who holds the digital camera andconfirms framing while observing the display unit 126 pans the digitalcamera having the image processing apparatus 110 in a direction that theobject of interest moves to the center of the display unit so that aportion having a changed image can be eliminated. Consequently, an imagedisplayed in the display unit 126 enters a state that is not subjectedto the change processing. As described above, according to thisembodiment, the digital camera having the image processing apparatus 110can guide the user so that the object of interest can be always placedwithin the display area.

It is to be noted that the luminance, the resolution, the sharpness, thecontrast, the chroma, the hue, and others are examples of the changeprocessing performed with respect to an image, and any other processingmay be executed. Additionally, the luminance, the resolution, thesharpness, the contrast, and the chroma may be increased instead ofbeing decreased. Further, a change of the luminance and the like in theprocessing region does not have to be uniform. For example, a gradationtype change may be added to an image so that a degree of change differsdepending on each position.

Furthermore, in regard to types of the change, one of theabove-described types of changes alone does not have to be used, and twoor more types may be combined. That is, the resolution may be decreasedwhile decreasing the luminance in the processing region. In this manner,arbitrary two types selected from the luminance, the resolution, thesharpness, the contrast, the chroma, the hue, and others may be changedat the same time.

Second Modification of First Embodiment

A second modification of the first embodiment according to the presentinvention will now be described. Here, a difference of this modificationfrom the first embodiment will be explained, and like reference numeralsdenote like parts to omit description thereof. In the first embodiment,when deciding a processing region where a display image is filled withthe black color at the step S105, the change value decision unit 116decides the processing region as a region associated with a positionsymmetrical to the object of interest with respect to the center of thedisplay image. On the other hand, in this modification, the processingregion is decided in such a manner that a distance from the object ofinterest becomes uniform.

In this modification, for example, as shown in FIG. 12A, FIG. 12B, andFIG. 12C, the change value decision unit 116 decides a processing regionin such a manner that a distance from the center of gravity of a personwho is the object of interest OI to an edge of the processing region PRbecomes fixed as a predetermined distance dis_1. Operations other thanthat of deciding the processing region executed by the change valuedecision unit 116 at the step S105 are equal to those in the firstembodiment.

This modification can obtain the same effects as those of the firstembodiment and the first modification.

Further, this modification can be combined with the first modificationof the first embodiment. That is, like this modification, at the stepS105, in the processing region decided by the frame-out accuracyjudgment unit 114 based on a distance from the object of interest,luminance may be decreased or increased, resolution may be decreased orincreased, sharpness may be decreased or increased, Contrast may bedecreased or increased, chroma may be decreased or increased, a hue maybe changed, or these changes may be combined like the firstmodification.

Third Modification of First Embodiment

A third modification of the first embodiment according to the presentinvention will now be described. Here, a difference of this modificationfrom the first modification of the first embodiment will be explained,and like reference numerals denote like parts to omit descriptionthereof. In the first modification of the first embodiment, at the stepS105, the change value decision unit 116 calculates a processing regionin accordance with a position of the object of interest with respect tothe center of an image range. At the step S106, the display imageprocessing unit 118 changes luminance, resolution, sharpness, contrast,chroma, or a hue in the processing region by a predetermined amountdecided by the change value decision unit 116. On the other hand, inthis embodiment, the change value decision unit 116 fixes an area of theprocessing region but varies a change amount of the luminance, theresolution, the sharpness, the contrast, the chroma, or the hue in theprocessing region in accordance with a position of the object ofinterest with respect to the center of the image range.

Here, an example of changing the luminance in the processing region willbe explained. In this modification, an operation of the image processingapparatus 110 is as shown in a flowchart depicted in FIG. 13. Here,processing steps from a step S201 to a step S204 are equal to theprocessing steps from the step S101 to the step S104 in the firstembodiment and its first modification described with reference to FIG.2, respectively.

In this modification, when it is determined that a distance is not equalto or below a predetermined value at the step S203, the change valuedecision unit 116 calculates luminance decrease amount in accordancewith a position of the object of interest with respect to the center ofan image range at the step S205. For example, in this modification, theluminance decrease amount is raised as the distance from the center ofthe image range to the center of gravity of the object of interest isincreased. The change value decision unit 116 outputs the calculatedluminance decrease amount to the display image processing unit 118. Theprocessing region is determined as a region associated with a positionsymmetrical to a position of the object of interest with respect to thecenter of a display image, and an area of this region is set to apredetermined value. The change value decision unit 116 also outputs thedecided processing region to the display image processing unit 118.

At the step S206, the display image processing unit 118 executesprocessing of reducing luminance in the processing region input from thechange value decision unit 116 in an image represented by image data Dby the luminance decrease amount input from the change value decisionunit 116. The display image processing unit 118 outputs change imagedata D′ obtained by reducing the luminance in the processing region tothe display unit 126.

Based on the above-described operation, the display unit 126 displayssuch an image as depicted in FIG. 14A or FIG. 14B, for example. That is,as shown in FIG. 14A, a decrease of the luminance in the processingregion PR is small when the distance from object of interest OI to thecenter of a display area DA is small. On the other hand, as shown inFIG. 14B, the luminance in the processing region PR is greatly decreasedand a dark image is displayed when the distance from the object ofinterest OI to the center of the display area is increased.

Although the example of reducing the luminance in the processing regionhas been described in this modification, the luminance may be increased.Furthermore, resolution, sharpness, contrast, chroma, or a hue may belikewise changed. Moreover, these elements may be combined.

According to this modification, when the object of interest is movedaway from the center of the display area, an image in the processingregion is changed and, for example, luminance of this image is lowered.As a result, a user who holds the digital camera and confirms framingwhile observing the display unit pans the digital camera in a directionalong which the object of interest gets closer to the center of thedisplay area in such a manner that a change in image can be weakened.When the object of interest gets closer to the center of the displayarea, the image displayed in the display unit 126 enters a state that isnot subjected to the change processing. As described above, according tothis embodiment, the digital camera having the image processingapparatus 110 can guide the user so that the object of interest can bealways placed in the display area.

Second Embodiment

A second embodiment according to the present invention will now bedescribed. Here, a difference from the first embodiment will beexplained, and like reference numerals denote like parts to omitdescription thereof. As shown in FIG. 15 illustrating a configuration,an effect decision unit 115 is provided to a digital camera according tothis embodiment in place of the change value decision unit 116. Anyother structures are equal to those in the first embodiment. This effectdecision unit 115 functions as, e.g., a processing decision unit whichis an alteration variable decision unit and decides informationconcerning an image process performed with respect to a region relatingto a position of a subject of interest, i.e., an effect added to animage.

A configuration different from the first embodiment will now bedescribed hereinafter. A position of an object of interest specified byan object-of-interest detection unit 112 is input to a frame-outaccuracy judgment unit 114. The frame-out accuracy judgment unit 114calculates an accuracy about occurrence of frame-out of the object ofinterest from an image range which is an imaging range where an imagingunit 122 carries out imaging and a region of an image displayed by adisplay unit 126. The frame-out accuracy judgment unit 114 outputs thecalculated accuracy that the frame-out of the object of interest occursto the effect decision unit 115.

The effect decision unit 115 receives the accuracy related to theoccurrence of frame-out of the object of interest from the image rangefrom the frame-out accuracy judgment unit 114. The effect decision unit115 decides an image process for allowing a user to recognize apossibility of the frame-out of the object of interest from the imagerange, i.e., an effect which is to be added to an image based on theaccuracy related to the occurrence of frame-out of the object ofinterest from the image range input from the frame-out accuracy judgmentunit 114. The effect decision unit 115 outputs information of thedecided effect to a display image processing unit 118.

The display image processing unit 118 receives information of thedecided effect from the effect decision unit 115. Further, the displayimage processing unit 118 receives image data D from an image signalgeneration unit 124. The display image processing unit 118 adds theeffect to an image based on the image data D to create changed imagedata D′. The display image processing unit 118 outputs the changed imagedata D′ to the display unit 126.

As described above, for example, the effect decision unit 115 functionsas a process decision unit which sets a change region around arepresentative point of the object of interest in an image based on theimage signal and decides image processing executed with respect to thechanged region. Furthermore, the effect decision unit 115 functions asan alteration variable decision unit which decides a processing variableof alteration processing performed with respect to an image based on theimage signal.

An outline of an operation of this embodiment will now be described. Inthis embodiment, like the first embodiment, for example, the object ofinterest is determined as a person, and the center of gravity of theperson as the object of interest in an image is determined as a positionof the object of interest. An image processing apparatus 110 judges apossibility that frame-out of the object of interest from an image rangedisplayed in the display unit 126 occurs based on the position of theobject of interest. When it is determined that the distance between thecenter of the image range and the position of the object of interest islarge and the frame-out of the person as the object of interest highlypossibly occurs, the image processing apparatus 110 adds an effect to adisplay image. In this embodiment, for example, the effect is anelliptic line surrounding the object of interest with a center of thegravity of the object of interest at the center. More specifically, inthe image, luminance or chroma of a pixel associated with the ellipticline is changed or a pixel associated with the elliptic line isconverted into a predetermined color to create changed image data D′.Further, a prepared template image corresponding to the elliptic linemay be superimposed in such a manner that the center of this image canconform to the center of the gravity of the object of interest.

Each operation will now be described in detail. Like the firstembodiment, the imaging unit 122 converts a subject image into anelectrical signal by photoelectric conversion, performs digitalconversion with respect to this electrical signal to create raw data,and outputs this data to the image signal generation unit 124. The imagesignal generation unit 124 generates an image signal (image data D) fromthe raw data input from the imaging unit 122 and outputs this image dataD to the image processing apparatus 110.

Processing of the image processing apparatus 110 will now be describedwith reference to a flowchart depicted in FIG. 16. Here, processing of astep S301 to a step S303 is equal to the processing of the step S101 tothe step S103 in the first embodiment explained with reference to FIG.2.

When the frame-out accuracy judgment unit 114 determines that a distancebetween the center of an image range and the center of gravity of theobject of interest is equal to or below a predetermined value at thestep S303, the effect decision unit 115 decides not to add the effect tothe input image data D at a step S304. In response to this decision, thedisplay image processing unit 118 directly outputs the image data D tothe display unit 126 as changed image data D′. As a result, the displayunit 126 displays an image based on the changed image data D′ which isthe image data D.

When it is determined that the distance between the center of the imagerange and the center of gravity of the object of interest is not equalto or below the predetermined value at the step S303, the frame-outaccuracy judgment unit 114 determines that the frame-out occurs andoutputs information indicative of the frame-out to the effect decisionunit 115. In response to this determination result, the effect decisionunit 115 decides to add the effect to the display image at a step S305.Here, the effect is elliptic lines surrounding the object of interestwith a center of the gravity of the object of interest at the center.The effect decision unit 115 outputs the decision to add the effect andinformation of the elliptic line which is the effect to be added to thedisplay image processing unit 118. As described above, for example, thedistance between the center of the image range and the center of gravityof the object of interest functions as a frame-out accuracy representingan accuracy that the object of interest deviates from the image range.

The display image processing unit 118 adds the effect to the input imagedata D based on the information input from the effect decision unit 115to create the changed image data D′ at a step S306. The display imageprocessing unit 118 outputs the created changed image data D′ to thedisplay unit 126.

The display unit 126 displays an image with the effect based on thechanged image data D′ input from the display image processing unit 118.

FIG. 17 shows an image example having the effect added thereto. In theimage depicted in FIG. 17, a person who is an object of image OI isbiased to a left end of a display area DA of the display unit 126. Adistance between the center of gravity of the object of interest OI andthe center of the display area DA, i.e., an image range is larger than apredetermined value. At this time, effect EF which is elliptic linessurrounding the object of interest OI with a center of the gravity ofthe object of interest OI at the center is added. In the example shownin FIG. 17, the effect is three black elliptic lines, and the middleline is thicker than the other lines. That is, at the step S305, theeffect decision unit 115 specifies pixels corresponding to theabove-described elliptic lines as a change region and outputsinformation indicative of blacking the pixels to the display imageprocessing unit 118. Although the elliptic lines are described as theblack color, any other color can be adopted as a matter of course, or aso-called half-transparent effect for making a change while partiallyleaving information of the image data D may be displayed. In thismanner, the effect decision unit 115 sets the pixels corresponding tothe elliptic lines, i.e., the change region in the image and decidesprocessing, e.g., changing a color to the black color with respect tothis change region.

For example, when a user again points the digital camera in such amanner that the object of interest OI can be placed at the center of thedisplay area DA, the distance between the center of gravity of theobject of interest OI and the center of the display area DA becomesequal to or below the predetermined value. As a result, the displayimage processing unit 118 outputs the image data to the display unit 126without adding the effect to the input image data at the step S304. Atthis time, for example, such an image having no effect as shown in FIG.18 is displayed in the display area DA of the display unit 126.

A situation in which a user holds the digital camera and confirmsframing while observing the display unit 126 will now be considered. Asdescribed above, according to this embodiment, when the object ofinterest, e.g., a person is biased to an end of the display area, thedisplay unit 126 displays an ellipse around the object of interest. Theuser who is observing such an image in which the object of interestemphasized by the ellipse can pan the digital camera to theobject-of-interest side. As a result, the image displayed in the displayunit 126 enters a state in which the ellipse is not shown.

As described above, according to this embodiment, the digital camerahaving the image processing apparatus 110 can guide a user so that theobject of interest can be always placed within the display area. At thistime, the display image obtained by adding the effect to the capturedimage displayed in the display unit 126 indicates a possibility ofoccurrence of the frame-out, and hence the user does not have to aim aviewpoint at any position other than the display unit 126. For example,when various subjects are present within the image range and the usermay not notice the object of interest, there can be obtained a resultthat the object of interest is emphasized by the effect and the userpays attention to the object of interest when the object of interest isplaced at an end of the image range. It is to be noted that the displayimage displayed here shows a result obtained by predicting whether theframe-out of the object of interest occurs. Therefore, according to thisembodiment, the digital camera having the image processing apparatus 110can avoid the occurrence of the frame-out of the object of interest.

The image processing apparatus 110 according to this embodiment may beconfigured to function in a state that only a part of the object ofinterest OI is present in the display area DA, i.e., the image rangelike the situation described with reference to FIG. 6 and FIG. 7 in thefirst embodiment. In this state, for example, as shown in FIG. 19, apart of the effect EF alone is displayed in the display area DA. Whenthe object-of-interest detection unit 112 can specify a position of theobject of interest outside the image range, this image processingapparatus 110 can execute the same processing in accordance with theposition of the object of interest outside the image range. Furthermore,like the first embodiment, raw data output from the imaging unit 122 maybe directly input to the object-of-interest detection unit 112 as animage signal, and the object-of-interest detection unit 112 may beconfigured to specify a position of the object of interest based on theraw data. Moreover, in this embodiment, although the center of the imagerange is utilized as a reference for obtaining a positional relationshipbetween the image range and the position of the object of interest, thepresent invention is not restricted to the center, and any other partmay be determined as a reference. Additionally, in this embodiment, anaccuracy of occurrence of the frame-out is determined based on thepredetermined value or a lower value, i.e., binarization, but two ormore threshold values may be provided and three or more conditions maybe set to add different effects depending on each case.

First Modification of Second Embodiment

A first modification of the second embodiment according to the presentinvention will now be described. Here, a difference from the secondembodiment will be described, and like reference numerals denote likeparts to omit explanation thereof. In the second embodiment, the effectis added based on a distance between the center of gravity of the objectof interest and the center of the image range. On the other hand, inthis modification, the effect is added based on a direction of thecenter of gravity of the object of interest with respect to the centerof the image range in addition to the distance between the center ofgravity of the object of interest and the center of image range. Forexample, as an example of this modification, as shown in FIG. 20A andFIG. 20B, a long axis of an ellipse as the effect EF coincides with aline connecting the center of gravity of the object of interest OI andthe center of an image range (a display area DA).

Since the major axis of the ellipse as the effect coincides with theline connecting the center of gravity of the object of interest with thecenter of the image range as described above, processing is executed asdescribed below in this modification. When a distance between the centerof the image range and the center of gravity of the object of interestis not equal to or below a predetermined value in the judgment at thestep S303, the frame-out accuracy judgment unit 114 outputs a judgmentresult indicative of occurrence of the frame-out to the effect decisionunit 115. The frame-out accuracy judgment unit 114 further outputs aposition of the object of interest to the effect decision unit 115.

The effect decision unit 115 decides to add the effect to a displayimage at the step S305. Furthermore, the effect decision unit 115decides the ellipse which is the effect as follows. A major axis of theellipse as the effect is conformed to a line connecting the object ofinterest to the center of the image range. At the step S305, the effectdecision unit 115 outputs information concerning the thus decided effectto the display image processing unit 118.

At a step S306, the display image processing unit 118 adds the effect ofthe ellipse whose major axis is conformed to the line connecting thecenter of gravity of the object of interest to the center of the imagerange with respect to input image data D based on the information inputfrom the effect decision unit 115. The display image processing unit 118outputs changed image data D′ which is data of an image having theeffect added thereto to the display unit 126. Any other processing isthe same as the processing according to the first embodiment.

According to this modification, likewise, when the object of interest isbiased to an end of the display area DA, the display unit 126 displaysthe ellipse as the effect EF around the object of interest OI. Moreover,this ellipse indicates the center of the image range. Therefore, a userwho is observing an image in which the object of interest is emphasizedby such an ellipse can recognize a direction to which the object ofinterest deviates from the center of the image range. As a result, theuser can pan the digital camera so that the object of interest can moveto the center of the image range. As described above, according to thisembodiment, the digital camera having the image processing apparatus 110can guide the user so that the object of interest can be placed withinthe display area.

Second Modification of Second Embodiment

A second modification of the second embodiment according to the presentinvention will now be described. Here, a difference from the secondembodiment will be described, and like reference numerals denote likeparts to omit explanation thereof. In the second embodiment, the effectadded to a display image is an ellipse. On the other hand, in thismodification, an effect of a line associated with a shape of the objectof interest is added. As an example of this modification, a lineparallel to a contour line and/or a line along the contour line of theobject of interest OI is shown as the effect EF around the object ofinterest as shown in FIG. 21.

To display the effect of the above-described line, theobject-of-interest detection unit 112 has a contour extraction unit 1122as shown in FIG. 15. This contour extraction unit 1122 extracts acontour of the object of interest in an image represented by image dataD. The object-of-interest detection unit 112 may be configured to obtaina motion vector of the contour between frames based on a detectedposition of the object of interest or a time-series variation of thecontour extracted by the contour extraction unit 1122, thereby tracingthe position of the object of interest. In this manner, the contourextraction unit 1122 functions as a contour extraction unit thatextracts the contour of the object of interest.

In this modification, the image processing apparatus 110 executesprocessing as follows. At the step S301, the object-of-interestdetection unit 112 specifies a position of the object of interest in animage represented by the image data D. Additionally, the contourextraction unit 1122 in the object-of-interest detection unit 112 uses atechnology concerning known edge extraction to extract a contour of theobject of interest. The object-of-interest detection unit 112 outputsthe specified position of the object of interest and the contour to theframe-out accuracy judgment unit 114.

When it is determined that a distance between the center of an imagerange and the center of gravity of the object of interest is not equalto or below a predetermined value at the step S303, the frame-outaccuracy judgment unit 114 outputs a judgment result indicative ofoccurrence of the frame-out to the effect decision unit 115.Additionally, the frame-out accuracy judgment unit 114 outputsinformation of the contour of the object of interest to the effectdecision unit 115. The effect decision unit 115 decides to add theeffect to the display image at the step S305. Here, the effect is aplurality of lines parallel to contour lines and/or lines along thecontour lines of objects of interest placed around the object ofinterest. The effect decision unit 115 outputs to the display imageprocessing unit 118 a decision to add the effect and information of theplurality of lines as the effect to be added.

The display image processing unit 118 adds the effect input from theeffect decision unit 115 to the input image data D at the step S306. Thedisplay image processing unit 118 outputs to the display unit 126changed image data D′ as data of an image having the effect addedthereto. Any other processing is the same as the processing according tothe first embodiment.

According to this modification, likewise, when the object of interest isbiased to an end of the display area, the display unit 126 displayslines parallel to the contour line and/or lines along the contour linearound the object of interest. Therefore, a user who is observing animage in which the object of interest is emphasized in this manner canpan the digital camera so that the object of interest can move to thecenter of the image range. According to this embodiment, the digitalcamera having the image processing apparatus 110 can guide a user sothat the object of interest can be always placed within the displayarea.

It is to be noted that the effect that is the line parallel to thecontour line and/or the line along the contour line of the object ofinterest displayed around the object of interest may change with time.FIG. 22 schematically shows an example where the effect EF around theobject of interest OI periodically changes its intensity. Such atemporal change of the effect is not restricted to this modification,and it can be likewise adopted in the effect of an ellipse or any othershape. When the effect is temporally changed in this manner, it ispossible to obtain a result that a position of the object of interest isfurther emphasized and a user can readily notice.

Third Modification of Second Embodiment

A third modification of the second embodiment according to the presentinvention will now be described. Here, a difference from the secondembodiment will be described, and like reference numerals denote likeparts to omit explanation thereof. In the second embodiment, the effectadded to a display image is the same irrespective of a position of anobject of interest when the position of the object of interest is apartfrom the center of an image range beyond a predetermined value. On theother hand, in this modification, an area of an ellipse as the effectchanges in accordance with a distance between a position of the objectof interest and the center of the image range. FIG. 23A and FIG. 23Bshow an example of an image displayed in this modification. An area ofan ellipse as the effect EF is set to be relatively small when theposition of the object of interest OI is relatively close to the centerof the image range (a display area DA) as shown in FIG. 23A, and thearea of the ellipse as the effect EF is set to be relatively large whenthe position of the object of interest OI is relatively far from thecenter of the image range as shown in FIG. 23B. In other words, an areaof a portion surrounded by the ellipse as the effect EF is small in FIG.23A and large in FIG. 23B.

To display the above-described effect whose area changes in accordancewith a distance between a position of the object of interest and thecenter of the image range, the following processing is executed in thismodification. When it is determined that a distance between the centerof gravity of the object of interest and the center of the image rangeis not equal to or below a predetermined value at the step S303, theframe-out accuracy judgment unit 114 outputs to the effect decision unit115 a judgment result indicative of occurrence of the frame-out and thedistance between the center of gravity of the object of interest and thecenter of the image range.

At the step S305, the effect decision unit 115 decides to add the effectto a display image. Here, the effect is an elliptic line surrounding theobject of interest with a center of the gravity of the object ofinterest at the center. An area of a portion surrounded by the ellipsebecomes large as a distance between the center of the image range andthe center of gravity of the object of interest increases. The effectdecision unit 115 outputs to the display image processing unit 118 adecision to add the effect and information of the elliptic line as theeffect to be added.

The display image processing unit 118 adds the effect input from theeffect decision unit 115 with respect to input image data D at the stepS306. The display image processing unit 118 outputs changed image dataD′ which is data of an image having the effect added thereto to thedisplay unit 126. Any other processing is the same as the processingaccording to the first embodiment.

According to this modification, likewise, when the object of interest isbiased to an end of a display area, the display unit 126 displays theellipse around the object of interest. A user who is observing such animage in which the object of interest is emphasized by the ellipse canpan the digital camera so that the object of interest can move to thecenter of the image range. Here, an area of a portion surrounded by thisellipse represents a distance from the center of the image range to thecenter of gravity of the object of interest. A probability that theframe-out of the object of interest occurs becomes higher as thedistance from the center of the image range to the center of gravity ofthe object of interest increases. Therefore, the user can intuitivelyknow how high the probability that the frame-out of the object ofinterest occurs is from an area of the portion surrounded by theellipse, i.e., how far the center of gravity of the object of interestis distanced from the center of the image range. As described above,according to this modification, the digital camera having the imageprocessing apparatus 110 can guide the user so that the object ofinterest can be always placed within the display range. It is to benoted that a size of the ellipse may be linearly changed in accordancewith a distance, gradually changed in accordance with each predetermineddistance, or continuously and nonlinearly changed.

Further, a pattern of the effect may be changed instead of changing anarea of the portion surrounded by the ellipse of the effect inaccordance with a distance between a position of the object of interestand the center of the image range. For example, a thickness or a type ofthe line of the effect may be changed. In this example, the line of theellipse of the effect EF is relatively thin when a position of theobject of interest OI is relatively close to the center of the imagerange as shown in FIG. 24A, and the line of the ellipse of the effect EFis relatively thick when a position of the object of interest OI isrelatively far from the center of the image range as shown in FIG. 24B.In other words, pixels corresponding to the elliptic line, i.e., an areaof a change region where an image is changed is small in FIG. 24A andlarge in FIG. 24B.

Further, a color or density of the line may be changed in place ofchanging, e.g., a thickness or a type of the elliptic line. That is, theeffect decision unit 115 decides, e.g., pixels corresponding to apredetermined elliptic line, and decides to execute a process to changethe pixels to a thin color when a position of the object of interest isrelatively close to the center of the image range, or decides to executeprocessing to change the pixels to a dense color when the position ofthe object of interest is relatively far from the image range. In otherwords, the effect decision unit 115 changes a degree of processing inaccordance with a distance between a position of the object of interestand the center of the image range. Furthermore, both a thickness of theline and a color or density of the line may be changed in accordancewith a distance between a position of the object of interest and thecenter of the image range. The thickness, the type, the color and thedensity of the line described above will be referred to as a pattern ofthe line.

Like an example depicted in FIG. 25A and FIG. 25B, both an area of aportion surrounded by the ellipse of the effect EF and a pattern of theline may be changed in accordance with a distance between a position ofthe object of interest OI and the center of the image range. As shown inFIG. 25A, when a position of the object of interest OI is relativelyclose to the center of the image range, an area of the portionsurrounded by the ellipse of the effect EF is relatively small, and athickness and a type of the line area are relatively small. As shown inFIG. 25B, when a position of the object of interest OI is relatively farfrom the center of the image range, an area of the portion surrounded bythe ellipse of the effect EF is relatively large, and a thickness and atype of the line are relatively large. Since the effect EF is set inthis manner, an impact of the effect is small when the object ofinterest OI is placed near the center of the image range and the cameradoes not have to be panned much, and hence the object of interest OI canbe easily seen, and a user can concentrate on a photo opportunity.

It is to be noted that a predetermined value used in the judgment at thestep S303 may be set to 0, and a threshold value is not provided for thejudgment on whether the change processing is to be executed. That is, anarea of a portion surrounded by the effect or a pattern of the line maybe changed.

This modification can be combined with the first modification. That is,the effect indicating a distance between the center of the image rangeand the center of gravity of the object of interest may be displayedwhile indicating a position of the object of interest with respect tothe image range. Further, this modification can be combined with thesecond modification. That is, a pattern such as an area of a portionsurrounded by a line parallel to a contour line and/or a line along thecontour line of the object of interest or a thickness of this line maybe changed.

Furthermore, this embodiment and its various modifications can becombined with the first embodiment to be used. That is, like the firstembodiment, the change processing may be carried out and the effect maybe added to a part of an image. In this case, the change value decisionunit 116 according to the first embodiment or the effect decision unit115 according to this embodiment has functions of both the change valuedecision unit 116 and the effect decision unit 115, and the displayimage processing unit 118 performs a change of an image according to thefirst embodiment and addition of the effect according to the secondembodiment with respect to image data D. As a result, for example, suchan image as shown in FIG. 26 is created.

Third Embodiment

A third embodiment according to the present invention will now bedescribed. Here, a difference from the first embodiment will bedescribed, and like reference numerals denote like parts to omitexplanation thereof. As shown in FIG. 27, in a digital camera accordingto this embodiment, a deformation parameter decision unit 117 isprovided in place of the change value decision unit 116 in the firstembodiment. Any other structure is equal to that in the firstembodiment.

A configuration different from the first embodiment will now bedescribed hereinafter. A position of an object of interest specified byan object-of-interest detection unit 112 is input to a frame-outaccuracy judgment unit 114. The frame-out accuracy judgment unit 114calculates an accuracy related to the occurrence of frame-out of theobject of interest and a direction of the frame-out from, e.g., an imagerange which is an imaging range where an imaging unit 122 performsimaging and a region of an image displayed by a display unit 126 basedon information of the position of the object of interest input from theobject-of-interest detection unit 112. The frame-out accuracy judgmentunit 114 outputs the calculated accuracy and direction related to theoccurrence of the frame-out of the object of interest and the positionof the object of interest to the deformation parameter decision unit117.

The deformation parameter decision unit 117 receives the accuracy andthe direction related to the occurrence of frame-out of the object ofinterest from the image range and the position of the object of interestfrom the frame-out accuracy judgment unit 114. The deformation parameterdecision unit 117 decides a deformation parameter of deformationperformed with respect to a display image based on the accuracy and thedirection related to the occurrence of frame-out of the object ofinterest from the image range and the position of the object of interestinput from the frame-out accuracy judgment unit 114. The deformationparameter decision unit 117 outputs the decided deformation parameter tothe display image processing unit 118.

The display image processing unit 118 receives the deformation parameterfrom the deformation parameter decision unit 117. Further, the displayimage processing unit 118 receives image data D from an image signalgeneration unit 124. The display image processing unit 118 performsdeformation processing on the image data D to create deformed image dataD′. The display image processing unit 118 outputs the deformed imagedata D′ to the display unit 126.

In this manner, for example, the deformation parameter decision unit 117functions as a deformation parameter decision unit that decides adeformation parameter used for geometrically converting an imagepremised on an image signal based on a frame-out accuracy. Furthermore,the deformation parameter decision unit 117 functions as an alterationvariable decision unit that decides a processing variable for alterationprocessing performed with respect to an image premised on an imagesignal based on a frame-out accuracy.

An operation of this embodiment will now be described. In thisembodiment, like the first embodiment, for example, a person isdetermined as an object of interest, and the center of gravity of theperson, which is the object of interest in an image, is determined as aposition of the object of interest. Based on the position of the objectof interest, an image processing apparatus 110 judges a possibility thatthe frame-out of the object of interest from an image range displayed inthe display unit 126 occurs. The image processing apparatus 110 makes ajudgment on the possibility that the frame-out of the object of interestoccurs based on a distance between the center of the image range and aposition of the object of interest. That is, in this embodiment, theimage processing apparatus 110 determines that an accuracy that theframe-out occurs becomes higher as the center of gravity of the objectof interest is distanced from the center of the image range. When theperson as the object of interest is determined to have a high accuracyof the frame-out, the image processing apparatus 110 performsdeformation processing with respect to a display image. In thisembodiment, as the deformation processing, geometric conversion iscarried out. In the geometric conversion, a side opposing a side closestto the object of interest in a contour of the display image having arectangular shape is shortened, resulting in that the display image isdeformed into a trapezoidal shape.

Each operation will now be described in detail with reference to thedrawing. Like the first embodiment, an imaging unit 122 converts asubject image into an electrical signal based on photoelectricconversion, carries out digital conversion with respect to thiselectrical signal to create raw data, and outputs this data to the imagesignal generation unit 124. The image signal generation unit 124generates an image signal (image data D) from the raw data input fromthe imaging unit 122 and outputs this image data D to the imageprocessing apparatus 110.

Processing of the image processing apparatus 110 will now be describedwith reference to a flowchart depicted in FIG. 28. Here, processing of astep S401 to a step S403 is equal to the processing of the step S101 tothe step S103 in the first embodiment explained with reference to FIG.2.

When the frame-out accuracy judgment unit 114 determines that a distancefrom the center of the image range and the center of gravity of theobject of interest is equal to or below a predetermined value at a stepS403, the deformation parameter decision unit 117 decides not to carryout the deformation processing with respect to the input image data D inaccordance with this judgment result. In response to this decision, thedisplay image processing unit 118 directly outputs the image data D tothe display unit 126 as changed image data D′. As a result, the displayunit 126 displays an image based on the changed image data D′ which isthe image data D.

When it is determined that the distance between the center of the imagerange and the center of gravity of the object of interest is not equalto or below the predetermined value at the step S403, the frame-outaccuracy judgment unit 114 determines that the frame-out occurs andoutputs this judgment result to the deformation parameter decision unit117. Moreover, the frame-out accuracy judgment unit 114 outputs thedistance between the center of the image range and the center of gravityof the object of interest and the position of the object of interest tothe deformation parameter decision unit 117. In response to thisjudgment result, the deformation parameter decision unit 117 decides adeformation parameter of the deformation processing carried out withrespect to a display image at a step S405. The deformation parameterdecision unit 117 outputs the decided deformation parameter to thedisplay image processing unit 118. In this embodiment, the display imageprocessing unit 118 carries out the deformation processing of deforminga rectangular display image into a trapezoidal shape. Here, geometricconversion, i.e., deformation for shortening a side opposing a sidewhich is the closest to the object of interest in a contour is performedwith respect to the display image. Further, a length of the side to bereduced is set in such a manner that this side becomes shorter as thedistance between the center of the image range and the center of gravityof the object of interest increases. That is, at the step S405, thedeformation parameter decision unit 117 decides which one of four sides,i.e., upper, lower, left, and right sides is to be reduced and areduction ratio of the side to be reduced and outputs this decisionresult to the display image processing unit 118. As descried above, forexample, the distance between the center of the image range and thecenter of gravity of the object of interest functions as a frame-outaccuracy representing an accuracy that the object of interest deviatesfrom the image range.

At a step S406, the display image processing unit 118 carries out thedeformation processing, which is geometric conversion of an image, tothe input image data D based on the deformation parameter decided by thedeformation parameter decision unit 117 in the display image. That is,the display image processing unit 118 shortens the reduction target sidedecided by the deformation parameter decision unit 117 in therectangular image based on the image data D at the reduction ratiodecided by the deformation parameter decision unit 117, therebydeforming the entire image into a trapezoidal shape. The outside of thistrapezoid is determined as a region including no image information, andit is displayed in, e.g., a black color or a white color. In thismanner, the display image processing unit 118 creates deformed imagedata D′ representing this image. The display image processing unit 118outputs the created deformed image data D′ to the display unit 126.

The display unit 126 displays an image after the deformation processingbased on the deformed image data D′ input from the display imageprocessing unit 118.

Here, FIG. 29A and FIG. 29B show image examples before and after thedeformation processing. FIG. 29A shows an image based on the image dataD before the deformation processing. In this drawing, a person who is anobject of interest OI is biased to a left end of a display area DA, anda distance between the object of interest OI and the center of thedisplay area DA, i.e., the image range is greater than a predeterminedvalue. At this time, the display image processing unit 118 executes thedeformation processing based on the decision of the deformationparameter decision unit 117. Here, the deformation parameter decisionunit 117 decides to shorten the right side which is a side opposing theleft side of an image as a side that is the closest to the object ofinterest. Further, the deformation parameter decision unit 117 decides areduction ratio of the right side to be shortened based on the distancebetween the object of interest OI and the center of the image range.That is, the display image processing unit 118 performs geometricconversion of distorting the entire image to shorten the right side ofthe image in FIG. 29A at the reduction ratio to form a frame FR of theimage into a trapezoidal shape, thereby creating such an image asdepicted in FIG. 29B. In this manner, the display image processing unit118 creates the deformed image data D′. That is, the image processingapparatus 110 changes a shape of the frame of the image based on theinput image data D into the trapezoidal shape. It is to be noted thatlines that divide the image into three parts in vertical and horizontaldirections are lines that help show the deformation of the image in FIG.29A and FIG. 29B, and they are not included in the image concerning theimage processing apparatus 110. This is also applied to the followingexamples.

The reduction ratio decided by the deformation parameter decision unit117 increases, i.e., makes the side shorter as the distance between thecenter of the image range and the center of gravity of the object ofinterest increases. Therefore, distortion of the display image isreduced as the object of interest OI gets closer to the center of theimage range. For example, as shown in FIG. 30A, when the object ofinterest OI is biased to the left side of the image range, a shape ofthe frame FR of the image is in a state that two parallel sides (a leftside and a right side) have greatly different lengths. A user again aimsthe digital camera from this state in such a manner that the object ofinterest OI can be placed at the center of the display screen. As aresult, when the object of interest OI moves closer to the center of theimage range from the state depicted in FIG. 30A, a difference betweenthe two parallel sides of the frame FR of the image becomes smaller thanthat in FIG. 30A as depicted in FIG. 30B. Moreover, when the object ofinterest OI is placed at the center of the display screen, the displayimage enters a state that is not subjected to the deformation processingas shown in FIG. 30C.

A situation where the user holds the digital camera and confirms framingwhile observing the display unit 126 will now be considered. Asdescribed above, according to this embodiment, for example, when theobject of interest like a person is biased to the end of the displayarea, the display unit 126 displays an image deformed into a trapezoidalshape. The user who is observing such a deformed image pans the digitalcamera to the object of interest side to eliminate the distortion of theimage. As a result, the image displayed in the display unit 126 entersan undeformed state. As described above, according to this embodiment,the digital camera having the image processing apparatus 110 can guidethe user so that the object of interest can be always placed within thedisplay area. At this time, an image displayed in the display unit 126,i.e., a display image obtained by deforming an acquired image shows adirection that the digital camera should be aimed in, and hence the userdoes not have to set a viewpoint at any position other than the displayunit 126. Further, the image displayed in the display unit 126 is notcomplicated. That is, the user can take a picture while observing thedisplay unit. It is to be noted that the display image displayed hereshows a result of predicting whether the frame-out of the object ofinterest occurs. Therefore, according to this embodiment, occurrence ofthe frame-out of the object of interest can be avoided.

Although the image is deformed into the trapezoidal shape to shorten theside opposing the side that is the closest to the object of interest inthe description of this embodiment, the image may be deformed into thetrapezoidal shape so that the side which is the closest to the object ofinterest can be shortened. Furthermore, the present invention is notrestricted to the deformation into the trapezoid, and it is possible tocarry out deformation processing of, e.g., shortening a side far fromthe object of interest in upper and lower sides and shortening a sidefar from the object of interest in left and right sides at the sametime.

Like the situation described in the first embodiment with reference toFIG. 6 and FIG. 7, a state that only a part of the object of interest OIis placed in the display area DA, i.e., the image range may be allowed.For example, as shown in FIG. 31, when the object-of-interest detectionunit 112 can specify a position of the object of interest even thoughthe position is provided outside the image range displayed in thedisplay unit 126, the image processing apparatus 110 can execute thesame processing in accordance with the position of the object ofinterest OI provided outside the display image range.

Further, like the first and second embodiments, raw data output from theimaging unit 122 may be directly input to the object-of-interestdetection unit 112 as an image signal, and the object-of-interestdetection unit 112 may be configured to specify a position of the objectof interest based on this raw data. Furthermore, although the center ofthe image range is used as a reference for obtaining a positionalrelationship between the image range and a position of the object ofinterest in this embodiment, the present invention is not restricted tothe center, and any other portion may be determined as the reference.Moreover, the object of interest is not restricted to a person, and itmay be an animal, a vehicle, or something else as a matter of course.Additionally, although the template matching has been described as anexample of the method for detecting the object of interest by theobject-of-interest detection unit 12 in the explanation of thisembodiment, any method can be adopted as long as the object of interestcan be extracted from an image. Additionally, although the accuracy thatthe frame-out occurs is either the predetermined value or below, i.e.,binarized in this embodiment, two or more threshold values may beprovided, three or more conditions may be set, and different types ofdeformation processing may be carried out in accordance with each case.Further, the predetermined value used for the judgment at the step S403may be set to 0, and providing a threshold value may be avoided in thejudgment on whether the deformation processing is to be executed.

First Modification of Third Embodiment

A first modification of the third embodiment according to the presentinvention will now be described. Here, a difference from the thirdembodiment will be described, and like reference numerals denote likeparts to omit explanation thereof. As shown in FIG. 29B, at the stepS406, in the third embodiment, the deformation of an image executed bythe display image processing unit 118 is deformation processing ofshortening a side opposing a side that is the closest to an object ofinterest in a contour of a display image based on a deformationparameter decided by the deformation parameter decision unit 117 andthereby deforming the display image into a trapezoidal shape. On theother hand, in this modification, a frame of the display image is notdeformed, and the display image is expanded or shrunk to be distorted.

For example, in this modification, in a perpendicular direction of aside, which is the closest to an object of interest, in a contour of adisplay image, the image is expanded or shrunk in accordance with adistance from the side which is the closest to the object of interest.Here, in this modification, an image is shrunk in a perpendiculardirection of a side which is the closest to the object of interest whengetting closer to this side, and the image can be expanded in theperpendicular direction of this side when getting further away from thesame. For example, a situation in which an object of interest OI isbiased to a left side of a display area DA in such an image as depictedin FIG. 32A will now be considered. At this time, the side which isclosest to the object of interest OI is a left side in FIG. 32A.Therefore, the image processing apparatus shrinks a left-side image andexpands a right-side image in the image along a perpendicular directionof the left side, i.e., a left-right direction to create such an imageas depicted in FIG. 32B. In this manner, the image processing apparatus110 expands/shrinks an image based on input image data D, shrinks a partof this image, and expands the other part of the same.

The present invention is not restricted to such a modification, and animage may be expanded in the perpendicular direction of the side whichis the closest to the object of interest when getting closer to theobject of interest, and the image may be shrunk in the perpendiculardirection of this side when getting further away from the object ofinterest. Furthermore, the present invention is not restricted toexpanding/shrinking an image in the left-right direction or the up-downdirection, the image may be deformed to be shrunk in both the left-rightdirection and the up-down direction at the same time. Moreover, insteadof expanding or shrinking an image in accordance with a distance fromthe side which is the closest to the object of interest, for example, animage in a region which is distanced from the side which is the closestto the object of interest by a predetermined distance alone may beexpanded or shrunk. Additionally, a ratio of the expansion/shrinkage maybe changed in accordance with a distance between the object of interestand the side which is the closest to the object of interest.

For example, to display such an image as depicted in FIG. 32B in thedisplay unit 126, in this modification, at the step S405, thedeformation parameter decision unit 117 decides deformation parametersincluding a region where an image is expanded/shrunk and a direction anda ratio of the expansion/shrinkage based on a distance between thecenter of the image range and the center of gravity of the object ofinterest and a position of the object of interest input from theframe-out accuracy judgment unit 114. The deformation parameter decisionunit 117 outputs this decided result to the display image processingunit 118.

At the step S406, the display image processing unit 118 executes thedeformation processing with respect to the image in regard to the inputimage data D based on the deformation parameters decided by thedeformation parameter decision unit 117 in a display image. That is, thedisplay image processing unit 118 expands/shrinks the image in thedirection of the expansion/shrinkage at the ratio of theexpansion/shrinkage decided by the deformation parameter decision unit117 in accordance with each region where the image is expanded/shrunk inthe image based on the image data D. In this manner, the display imageprocessing unit 118 creates deformed image data D′ representing thisimage. The display image processing unit 118 outputs the createddeformed image data D′ to the display unit 126. Any other operation isequal to that in the third embodiment.

In this modification, likewise, the image in the display area isdeformed as the object of interest is distanced from the center of theimage range. As a result, a user who holds the digital camera andconfirms framing while observing the display unit 126 pans the digitalcamera having the image processing apparatus 110 in a direction alongwhich the object of interest moves to the center of the display area insuch a manner that the deformation of the image can be eliminated.Consequently, the image displayed in the display unit 126 enters anundeformed state. As described above, according to this modification,the digital camera having the image processing apparatus 110 can guide auser so that the object of interest can be always placed within thedisplay area.

Second Modification of Third Embodiment

A second modification of the third embodiment according to the presentinvention will now be described. In this modification, deformation of animage which is a combination of the deformation of an image in the thirdembodiment and the deformation of an image in its first modification iscarried out. That is, in this modification, a side opposing a side whichis the closest to an object of interest is shortened to deform a contourof a display image into a trapezoidal shape, and an image isexpanded/shrunk in a perpendicular direction of the side which is theclosest to the object of interest in accordance with a distance from theside which is the closest to the object of interest. That is, the imageprocessing apparatus 110 creates, e.g., such an image as depicted inFIG. 33.

In this modification, like the third embodiment and its firstmodification, at the step S405, the deformation parameter decision unit117 decides parameters used for deforming a contour of a display image,i.e., which one of four sides, i.e., upper, lower, left, and right sidesis to be shortened and a ratio of reduction for the side to beshortened. Further, the deformation parameter decision unit 117 decidesparameters used for expanding/shrinking an image, i.e., a region wherethe image is expanded/shrunk and a direction and a ratio for theexpansion/shrinkage. At the step S406, the display image processing unit118 carries out the deformation processing with respect to an image inregard to input image data D based on the deformation parameters decidedby the deformation parameter decision unit 117 to create deformed imagedata D′. Any other operation is equal to that in the third embodiment.Further, in regard to the deformation of a display image, thedeformation may be carried out to enable definition by lineartransformation like projective deformation.

This embodiment can obtain the same effects as those of the thirdembodiment and its first modification.

This embodiment and its various modifications can be combined with thefirst embodiment and/or the second embodiment to be used. That is, likethe first embodiment, a part of an image can be subjected to the changeprocessing and the deformation processing. In this case, the changevalue decision unit 116 in the first embodiment or the deformationparameter decision unit 117 in this embodiment has functions of both thechange value decision unit 116 and the deformation parameter decisionunit 117, and the display image processing unit 118 executes the changeprocessing for an image according to the first embodiment and thedeformation processing according to this embodiment with respect to theimage data D. As a result, for example, such an image as depicted inFIG. 34 is created. Likewise, the effect decision unit 115 or thedeformation parameter decision unit 117 can be configured to havefunctions of both the effect decision unit 115 and the deformationparameter decision unit 117 by combining this embodiment with the secondembodiment. That is, the image processing apparatus 110 may beconfigured in such a manner that the deformation processing can beexecuted and the effect can be added to an image to create such an imageas depicted in FIG. 35. Furthermore, the change processing according tothe first embodiment, the addition of the effect according to the secondembodiment, and the deformation processing according to this embodimentmay be combined with each other. That is, the image processing apparatus110 may be configured to have functions of the effect decision unit 115,the change value decision unit 116, and the deformation parameterdecision unit 117, thereby creating such an image as depicted in FIG.36, for example.

Fourth Embodiment

A fourth embodiment according to the present invention will now bedescribed. Here, a difference from the first embodiment will beexplained, and like reference numerals denote like parts to omitdescription thereof. Like the first embodiment, a digital cameraaccording to this embodiment has a configuration depicted in FIG. 1. Achange value decision unit 116 according to this embodiment decidesvarious kinds of parameters for change processing carried out withrespect to image data D based on a frame-out accuracy obtained by aframe-out accuracy decision unit 114 like the first embodiment. Adisplay image processing unit 118 executes the change processing withrespect to the image data D based on the decision of the change valuedecision unit 116.

In the first embodiment, the frame-out accuracy decision unit 114calculates a distance between the center of image range and the centerof gravity of an object of interest and decides the accuracy related tothe occurrence of frame-out of the object of interest from the imagerange using the calculated distance as a reference. On the other hand,in this embodiment, the frame-out accuracy decision unit 114 calculatesa temporal change of a position of the object of interest based on animage represented by the image data D, i.e., a relative movement speedof the object of interest in the image and determines that the accuracythat the frame-out occurs is high when the temporal change (the relativemovement speed V) of the position of the object of interest is large.Moreover, in this embodiment, a moving direction of the object ofinterest is a direction in which the frame-out of the object of interestpossibly occurs.

FIG. 37 shows a flowchart for explaining an operation of the imageprocessing apparatus 110 according to this embodiment. As shown in thisdrawing, like the step S101 in the first embodiment, image data Dcreated by an image signal generation unit 124 is input to anobject-of-interest detection unit 112 at a step S501. Theobject-of-interest detection unit 112 specifies a position of the objectof interest which is a subject at the center of attention in an imagerepresented by the image data D. The object-of-interest detection unit112 outputs the specified position of the object of interest to theframe-out accuracy judgment unit 114.

At a step S502, the frame-out accuracy judgment unit 114 calculates atemporal change of a position of the object of interest in the image,i.e., a relative movement speed (which will be simply referred to as amovement speed hereinafter) of the object of interest based on theposition of the object of interest specified by the object-of-interestdetection unit 112. Therefore, the frame-out accuracy judgment unit 114must be configured to include a memory that stores a position of theobject of interest in previous image data, or a main controller 128 mustbe configured to hold information of a position of the object ofinterest in previous image data and to supply this information to theframe-out accuracy judgment unit 114.

At a step S503, the frame-out accuracy judgment unit 114 judges whetherthe movement speed of the object of interest is equal to or below apredetermined value. When the movement speed of the object of interestis equal to or below the predetermined value, the frame-out accuracyjudgment unit 114 determines that the frame-out does not occur andoutputs this judgment result to the change value decision unit 116. Likethe step S104 in the first embodiment, at a step S504, the change valuedecision unit 116 decides not to execute the change processing on theinput image data D. The display image processing unit 118 outputs theimage data D which is not changed to a display unit 126 as changed imagedata D′. As a result, the display unit 126 displays an image based onthe changed image data D′ which is the image data D.

On the other hand, when the temporal change of the position of theobject of interest is not equal to or below the predetermined value atthe step S503, the change value decision unit 116 decides a processingregion where a display image is filled with a black color at a stepS505. Here, the processing region is determined as a region associatedwith the opposite side of the moving direction of the object of interestwith respect to the center of the display image. For example, the rightside of the display image is determined as the processing region whenthe object of interest is moving in the left direction, and the leftside of the display image is determined as the processing region whenthe object of interest is moving in the right direction. Likewise, thelower side of the display image is determined as the processing regionwhen the object of interest is moving upward, and the opposite side ofthe moving direction of the object of interest with respect to thecenter of the display image is determined as the processing region whenthe object of interest is obliquely moving. An area of the processingregion is enlarged as the movement speed of the object of interest isincreased. The change value decision unit 116 outputs the decidedprocessing region to the display image processing unit 118.Additionally, the change value decision unit 116 outputs informationindicating that the change processing involves filling with the blackcolor to the display image processing unit 118. As described above, forexample, the temporal change of the position of the object of interestfunctions as a frame-out accuracy representing an accuracy that theobject of interest deviates from the image range.

Like the step S106 in the first embodiment, at a step S506, the displayimage processing unit 118 performs the change processing on the image tofill the processing region in the display image calculated by the changevalue decision unit 116 with the black color and thereby creates changedimage data D′ which is data of an image obtained after the changeprocessing. The display image processing unit 118 outputs the changedimage data D′ to the display unit 126. Any other configuration andoperation of the digital camera according to this embodiment are equalto those in the first embodiment.

According to this embodiment, the display unit 126 displays such imagesas depicted in FIG. 38A and FIG. 38B, for example. That is, when theobject of interest OI is moving in the left direction, the right side ofthe display area is set as a processing region PR and filled with theblack color. It is to be noted that, in FIG. 38A and FIG. 38B, a levelof a distance between a person as the object of interest OI drawn in asolid line and a person drawn in a broken line represents a level of aspeed. This is also applied to the following description. When themovement speed of the object of interest OI is relatively low, an areaof the processing region PR is relatively small as shown in FIG. 38A. Onthe other hand, when the movement speed of the object of interest OI isrelatively high, as shown in FIG. 38B, the area of the processing regionPR is relatively large.

In this embodiment, likewise, when the object of interest is moving, animage in the processing region is changed in accordance with the speed.As a result, a user who holds the digital camera and confirms framingwhile observing the display unit 126 pans the digital camera to tracethe movement of the object of interest in such a manner that the changeof the image can be decreased. When the relative movement of the objectof interest with respect to the display image becomes small, the imagedisplayed in the display unit 126 enters an unchanged state. Asdescribed above, the digital camera having the image processingapparatus 110 can guide the user to trace the moving object of interestso that the object of interest can be constantly placed within thedisplay area. It is to be noted that the display image displayed in thedigital camera shows a result obtained by predicting whether theframe-out of the object of interest occurs. Therefore, according to thisembodiment, the occurrence of the frame-out of the object of interestcan be avoided.

Further, like the first modification of the first embodiment, the imageprocessing apparatus 110 can be configured to fill the processing regionwith any other color than the black color and can be configured tochange one or more selected from luminance, resolution, sharpness,contrast, chroma, and a hue. Furthermore, like the second modificationof the first embodiment, the processing region may be associated with adistance from the object of interest instead of being associated withthe opposite side of the moving direction of the object of interest withrespect to the center of the display image. For example, the distancefrom the object of interest to the frame of the processing region may beshortened when the movement speed of the object of interest is high, andthe distance from the object of interest to the frame of the processingregion may be increased when the movement speed of the object ofinterest is low.

Moreover, like the third modification of the first embodiment, a changeamount of luminance, resolution, sharpness, contrast, chroma, or a hueof processing region may be changed in accordance with the movementspeed of the object of interest. In this case, at the step S505, thechange value decision unit 116 calculates a change amount of a changethat is made to the processing region based on the movement speed of theobject of interest in place of calculating the processing region. At thestep S506, the display image processing unit 118 changes one or moreselected from luminance, resolution, sharpness, contrast, chroma, and ahue by the change amount calculated by the change value decision unit116. Furthermore, the predetermined value used in the judgment at thestep S503 may be determined as 0 without setting a threshold value forthe judgment on whether the change processing is to be executed.

In any case, the same effect as that of each modification of the firstembodiment can be obtained.

Fifth Embodiment

A fifth embodiment according to the present invention will now bedescribed. Here, a difference from the second and fourth embodimentswill be described, and like reference numerals denote like parts to omitexplanation thereof. A digital camera according to this embodiment has aconfiguration depicted in. FIG. 15 like the second embodiment. An effectdecision unit 115 according to this embodiment decides various kinds ofparameters of an effect added to image data D based on a frame-outaccuracy obtained by a frame-out accuracy judgment unit 114 like thesecond embodiment. A display image processing unit 118 adds the effectto the image data D based on the decision of the effect decision unit115.

In this embodiment, the frame-out accuracy decision unit 114 calculatesa temporal change of a position of an object of interest in an imagerange represented by image data D, i.e., a relative movement speed ofthe object of interest in the image range and determines that anaccuracy that frame-out occurs is high as the temporal change of theposition of the object of interest is large.

FIG. 39 shows a flowchart for explaining an operation of the imageprocessing apparatus 110 according to this embodiment. As shown in thedrawing, processing of a step S601 to a step S603 according to thisembodiment is equal to the processing of the step S501 to the step S503according to the fourth embodiment. However, the change value decisionunit 116 in the fourth embodiment is substituted by an effect decisionunit 115 in this embodiment.

When the frame-out accuracy decision unit 114 determines that a distancebetween the center of the image range and the center of gravity of theobject of interest is equal to or below a predetermined value at a stepS603, the effect decision unit 115 decides not to add an effect to inputimage data D in accordance with this judgment result at a step S604. Inresponse to this decision, the display image processing unit 118directly outputs the image data D to a display unit 126 as changed imagedata D′. As a result, the display unit 126 displays an image based onthe changed image data D′ as the image data D.

When it is determined that the temporal change of the position of theobject of interest is not equal to or below the predetermined value atthe step S603, the frame-out accuracy judgment unit 114 determines thatthe frame-out occurs and outputs this judgment result to the effectdecision unit 115. The effect decision unit 115 decides to add theeffect to a display image in accordance with this judgment result at astep S605. Here, the effect is an elliptic line surrounding the objectof interest with a center of the gravity of the object of interest atthe center. The effect decision unit 115 outputs the decision to add theeffect and information of the elliptic line which is the effect to beadded to the display image processing unit 118. In this manner, forexample, the temporal change of the position of the object of interestfunctions as the frame-out accuracy indicative of an accuracy that theobject of interest deviates from the image range.

Like the step S306 of the second embodiment, the display imageprocessing unit 118 adds the effect input from the effect decision unit115 to the input image data to create changed image data D′ at a stepS606. The display image processing unit 118 outputs the changed imagedata D′ to the display unit 126. The display unit 126 displays an imagehaving the effect added thereto based on the changed image data D′ inputfrom the display image processing unit 118. Any other structure andoperation of the digital camera according to this embodiment are equalto those of the second embodiment.

According to this embodiment, the display unit 126 displays such imagesas depicted in FIG. 40A and FIG. 40B, for example. That is, when aperson who is the object of the interest OI is moving faster than apredetermined speed, an ellipse as the effect EF is displayed around theobject of interest OI as shown in FIG. 40A. On the other hand, when amovement speed of the object of interest OI is equal to or below apredetermined value, the effect EF is not displayed as depicted in FIG.40B. It is to be noted that an open arrow in each drawing is given toshow that the object of interest OI is moving, and it does notconstitute a display image. Further, a thickness of this open arrowrepresents a level of the movement speed, and the movement speed ishigher as the arrow is thicker. This is also applied to subsequentdrawings. Based on presence/absence of display of this effect, aphotographer can be intuitively aware that the likelihood of occurrenceof the frame-out of the object of interest is high. For example, whenvarious subjects are present in the image range and a user may not beaware of movement of the object of interest, there can be obtained aneffect that the user notices the object of interest emphasized by theeffect when the object of interest moves.

According to this embodiment, likewise, when the object of interest ismoving, the effect is added to the display image in accordance with amovement speed. As a result, the user who holds the digital camera andconfirms framing while observing the display unit 126 can pan thedigital camera in a direction which the movement of the object ofinterest is traced so that the effect can be eliminated. When relativemovement of the object of interest to the display image is small, theimage displayed in the display unit 126 enters an unchanged state. Asdescribed above, according to this embodiment, the digital camera havingthe image processing apparatus 110 can guide the user so that the objectof interest can be always placed within the display area, i.e., themoving object of interest can be traced. It is to be noted that thedisplay image displayed in the digital camera shows a result ofpredicting whether the frame-out of the object of interest occurs.Therefore, according to this embodiment, occurrence of the frame-out ofthe object of interest can be avoided.

It is to be noted that although the effect added to the display image isthe ellipse in the description of this embodiment, it is possible toadopt an effect of lines corresponding to a shape of the object ofinterest. For example, a line parallel to a contour line of the objectof interest and/or a line along the contour line can be displayed aroundthe object of interest like the second modification of the secondembodiment. In this case, at a step S601, the object of interestdetection unit 112 specifies a position of the object of interest in animage represented by the image data D, and a contour extraction unit1122 in the object-of-interest detection unit 112 extracts a contour ofthis object of interest. The object-of-interest detection unit 112outputs the specified position and contour of the object of interest tothe frame-out accuracy judgment unit 114. Further, when the movementspeed of the object of interest is not equal to or below thepredetermined value in the judgment at the step S603, the frame-outaccuracy judgment unit 114 determines that the frame-out occurs andoutputs this judgment result and information of the contour of theobject of interest to the effect decision unit 115. The effect decisionunit 115 decides to add the effect, which is a line parallel to thecontour line and/or a line along the contour line of the object ofinterest, around the object of interest at the step S605.

First Modification of Fifth Embodiment

A first modification of the fifth embodiment according to the presentinvention will now be described. Here, a difference from the fifthembodiment will be described, and like reference numerals denote likeparts to omit explanation thereof. In the fifth embodiment, when amovement speed of the object of interest is higher than a predeterminedvalue, the effect added to a display image is the same irrespective of alevel of this speed. On the other hand, in this modification, the effectis changed in accordance with a movement speed of the object ofinterest.

FIG. 41A, FIG. 41B, and FIG. 41C show examples of a display image whenthe effect is changed in accordance with a movement speed of such anobject of interest. For example, when a movement speed of an object ofinterest OI is lower than that in FIG. 41A, an area of a portionsurrounded by an ellipse as an effect EF is reduced as shown in FIG.41B. Alternatively, for example, when a movement speed of the object ofinterest OI is lower than that in FIG. 41A, a pattern of the ellipse asthe effect EF is changed to vary an area of the effect, e.g., thin theline as shown in FIG. 41C and/or vary a degree of processing of theeffect, e.g., lighten a color of the line. Moreover, both an area of aportion surrounded by the ellipse as the effect and a pattern of theline may be changed in accordance with a movement speed of the object ofinterest.

To display the effect that differs depending on each movement speed ofthe object of interest, the following processing is executed in thismodification. At the step S603, when it is determined that a movementspeed of the object of interest is not equal to or below a predeterminedvalue, the frame-out accuracy judgment unit 114 determines that theframe-out occurs and outputs this judgment result and the movement speedof the object of interest to the effect decision unit 115.

The effect decision unit 115 decides to add the effect to the displayimage at the step S605. Here, the effect is an area or a patternassociated with a movement speed of the object of interest. The effectdecision unit 115 outputs the decision of adding the effect andinformation of the elliptic line as the effect to be added to thedisplay image processing unit 118.

At the step S606, the display image processing unit 118 adds the effectinput from the effect decision unit 115 to input image data D. Thedisplay image processing unit 118 outputs changed image data D′, whichis data of an image having the effect added thereto, to the display unit126. Any other processing is the same as the processing in the secondembodiment.

According to this modification, likewise, when the object of interest ismoving, the effect is added to a display image in accordance with themovement speed. Here, an area or a pattern of this elliptic representsthe movement speed of the object of interest. A user can intuitivelyrecognize the movement speed of the object of interest, i.e., thelikelihood of the frame-out of object of interest from an area of aportion surrounded by the ellipse or a pattern of an elliptic line. As aresult, a user who holds the digital camera and confirms framing whileobserving the display unit 126 can pan the digital camera in a directionin which the movement of the object of interest is traced so that theeffect can be reduced. When relative movement of the object of interestto the display image is small, the image displayed in the display unit126 enters an unchanged state. As described above, according to thisembodiment, the digital camera having the image processing apparatus 110can guide the user so that the object of interest can be always placedwithin the display area, i.e., the moving object of interest can betraced.

It is to be noted that the predetermined value used in the judgment atthe step S603 may be set to 0 and a threshold may not be provided forthe judgment on whether the change processing is to be executed. Thatis, an area of the effect may be changed in accordance with a movementspeed of the object of interest without providing the threshold value.

Second Modification of Fifth Embodiment

A second modification of the fifth embodiment according to the presentinvention will now be described. Here, a difference of the modificationfrom the fifth embodiment will be described, and like reference numeralsdenote like parts to omit explanation thereof. In the fifth embodiment,an effect associated with a movement speed of the object of interest isadded, and a moving direction is not taken into consideration. In thismodification, an effect indicative of a moving direction of the objectof interest is added. As an example of this modification, as shown inFIG. 42, the effect EF is determined as an ellipse having an area thatis large on the opposite side of a moving direction of the object ofinterest OI with respect to a barycentric position of the object ofinterest OI, i.e., a rear side of the moving direction of the object ofinterest.

To change a shape of the ellipse as the effect in accordance with amoving direction of the object of interest as descried above, thefollowing processing is executed in this modification. When it isdetermined that a movement speed of the object of interest is not equalto or below a predetermined value at the step S603, the frame-outaccuracy judgment unit 114 determines that the frame-out occurs andoutputs this judgment result and the moving direction of the object ofinterest to the effect decision unit 115. The effect decision unit 115decides to add an effect to a display image at the step S605. Further,at the step S605, the effect decision unit 115 decides a shape of theeffect to be added in accordance with the moving direction of the objectof interest and outputs this information to the display image processingunit 118. At the step S606, the display image processing unit 118 addsthe effect to input image data D based on information of the effectinput from the effect decision unit 115. The display image processingunit 118 outputs changed image data D′, which is data of an image havingthe effect added thereto, to the display unit 126. Any other processingis the same as the processing in the second embodiment.

According to this modification, likewise, when the object of interest ismoving, the effect is added to a display image in accordance with themovement speed. Here, a user can recognize the moving direction of theobject of interest based on a shape of the effect to be added. As aresult, the user can intuitively recognize the speed/moving direction ofthe subject and can naturally aim the digital camera in the direction ofthe subject. As a result, a user who holds the digital camera andconfirms framing while observing the display unit 126 can pan thedigital camera in a direction in which the movement of the object ofinterest is traced so that the effect can be reduced. When relativemovement of the object of interest to the display image is small, theimage displayed in the display unit 126 enters an unchanged state. Asdescribed above, according to this embodiment, the digital camera havingthe image processing apparatus 110 can guide the user so that the objectof interest can be always placed within the display area, i.e., themoving object of interest can be traced.

Additionally, this modification can be combined with the firstmodification of the fifth embodiment. For example, as shown in FIG. 43,an area of a portion surrounded by the effect EF may be changed inaccordance with the movement speed of the object of interest OI, and ashape of the effect EF may be changed in accordance with the movingdirection of the same. In this case, operations in the firstmodification and the second modification of the fifth embodiment can becombined. That is, when it is determined that the movement speed of theobject of interest is not equal to or below the predetermined value atthe step S603, the frame-out accuracy judgment unit 114 determines thatthe frame-out occurs and outputs this judgment result, the movementspeed of the object of interest, and the moving direction of the objectof interest to the effect decision unit 115. At the step S605, theeffect decision unit 115 decides to add an effect to the display image.Here, the effect is an area or a pattern associated with the movingspeed of the object of interest, and it has a shape associated with themoving direction. The effect decision unit 115 outputs the decision toadd the effect and information of an elliptic line as the effect to beadded to the display image processing unit 118. When the firstmodification is combined with the second modification in this manner,the digital camera having the image processing apparatus 110 can performdisplay having the effect which enables recognizing the movement speedand the moving direction of the object of interest.

It is to be noted that the effect may temporally vary in the fifthembodiment and its modifications.

Further, this embodiment and its various modifications can be combinedwith the fourth embodiment. That is, the change processing may beperformed with respect to a part of an image like the fourth embodiment,and the effect may be added like this embodiment. In this case, thechange value decision unit 116 in the fourth embodiment or the effectdecision unit 115 in this embodiment has functions of both the effectdecision unit 115 and the change value decision unit 116, and thedisplay image processing unit 118 performs a change in image accordingto the fourth embodiment and addition of the effect according to thefifth embodiment with respect to the image data D. As a result, forexample, such an image as depicted in FIG. 26 is created.

Sixth Embodiment

A sixth embodiment according to the present invention will now bedescried. Here, differences from the third and fourth embodiments willbe described and like reference numerals denote like parts to omitexplanation thereof. A digital camera according to this embodiment has aconfiguration shown in FIG. 27 like the third embodiment. A deformationparameter decision unit 117 according to this embodiment decides variouskinds of parameters of deformation processing performed with respect tothe image data D based on a frame-out accuracy obtained by a frame-outaccuracy judgment unit 114 like the third embodiment. A display imageprocessing unit 118 carries out the deformation processing with respectto the image data D based on the decision of the deformation parameterdecision unit 117.

In this embodiment, the frame-out accuracy judgment unit 114 calculatesa temporal change of a position of an object of interest in an imagerange represented by the image data D, i.e., a relative movement speedof the object of interest in the image range and determines that anaccuracy that the frame-out occurs is high as the temporal change of theposition of the object of interest is large. Furthermore, in thisembodiment, a moving direction of the object of interest is a directionin which the frame-out of the object of interest may possibly occur.

FIG. 44 shows a flowchart for explaining an operation of an imageprocessing apparatus 110 according to this embodiment. As shown in thedrawing, processing of a step S701 to a step S703 according to thisembodiment is equal to the processing of the step S501 to the step S503in the fourth embodiment. However, the change value decision unit 116 inthe fourth embodiment is substituted by the deformation parameterdecision unit 117 in this embodiment.

When the frame-out accuracy judgment unit 114 determines that a distancebetween the center of the image range and the center of gravity of theobject of interest is equal to or below a predetermined value at a stepS703, the deformation parameter decision unit 117 decides not to performthe deformation processing with respect to the input image data D. Inresponse to this decision, the display image processing unit 118directly outputs the image data D to the display unit 126 as changedimage data D′. As a result, the display unit 126 displays an image basedon the changed image data D′ which is the image data D.

When it is determined that a temporal change of a position of the objectof interest is not equal to or below a predetermined value at the stepS703, the deformation parameter decision unit 117 decides a deformationparameter of the deformation processing performed with respect to adisplay image at a step S705. In this embodiment, like the thirdembodiment, processing of shortening a rear side in a direction alongwhich the object of interest is moving in a contour of a rectangulardisplay image to deform the display image into a trapezoidal shape isexecuted as the deformation processing. Further, a length of the side tobe shortened is reduced as a movement speed of the object of interest isincreased. That is, the deformation parameter decision unit 117 decideswhich one of four sides, i.e., upper, lower, left, and right sides isthe side to be shortened and a reduction ratio for the side to beshortened as deformation parameters and outputs this decision result tothe display image processing unit 118. In this manner, for example, thetemporal change of the position of the object of interest functions as aframe-out accuracy representing an accuracy that the object of interestdeviates from the image range.

Like the step S406 in the third embodiment, the display image processingunit 118 performs the deformation processing with respect of an image ofthe input image data D based on the deformation parameters for thedisplay image decided by the deformation parameter decision unit 117.That is, the display image processing unit 118 shortens the side to bereduced, which has been decided by the deformation parameter decisionunit 117 with respect to the rectangular image based on the image dataD, at the reduction ratio decided by the deformation parameter decisionunit 117, thereby deforming the entire image to be distorted into atrapezoidal shape. In this manner, the display image processing unit 118creates deformed image data D′ representing this image. The displayimage processing unit 118 outputs the created deformed image data D′ tothe display unit 126. Any other structure and configuration of thedigital camera according to this embodiment are equal to those in thefirst embodiment.

According to this embodiment, the display unit 126 displays such animage as shown in FIG. 45A or FIG. 45B, for example. That is, when theobject of interest OI is moving in the left direction, the right sidecorresponding to the rear side of the object of interest is shortened,and an image is obtained by distorting the entire image so that a frameFR of the image becomes trapezoidal. Here, when a movement speed of theobject of image OI is relatively high, a shape of the frame FR of theimage is in a state that two parallel sides are greatly different fromeach other. On the other hand, when the movement speed of the object ofinterest OI is relatively low, as shown in FIG. 45B, a differencebetween lengths of the two parallel sides in the frame FR of the imageis smaller than that in FIG. 45A.

In this embodiment, when the object of interest is moving, the contourof the image is deformed in accordance with the speed. As a result, auser who holds the digital camera and confirms framing while observingthe display unit 126 pans the digital camera to trace the movement ofthe object of interest so that the distortion involved byexpansion/shrinkage of the image can be reduced. When the relativemovement of the object of interest is reduced with respect to a displayimage, the image displayed in the display unit 126 enters an undeformedstate. As described above, according to this embodiment, the digitalcamera having the image processing apparatus 110 can guide the user totrace the moving object of interest so that the object of interest canbe always placed within in the display area. It is to be noted that thedisplay image displayed in the digital camera represents a result ofpredicting whether the frame-out of the object of interest occurs.Therefore, according to this embodiment, the frame-out of the object ofinterest can be avoided.

Furthermore, in this embodiment, like the first modification of thethird embodiment, an image can be expanded or shrunk in a predetermineddirection in accordance with a movement speed of the object of interestas shown in FIG. 32B like the first modification of the thirdembodiment. Moreover, an image may be expanded or shrunk in apredetermined direction in accordance with a movement speed of theobject of interest while a contour of the image is deformed as shown inFIG. 33 like the second modification of the third embodiment. In anycase, the same effect as that of each modification of the thirdembodiment can be obtained.

Additionally, this embodiment and its various modifications can becombined with the fourth embodiment and/or the fifth embodiment andused. That is, the change processing may be carried out like the fourthembodiment and the deformation processing may be effected like thisembodiment with respect to a part of an image. In this case, the changevalue decision unit 116 in the fourth embodiment or the deformationparameter decision unit 117 in this embodiment has functions of both thechange value decision unit 116 and the deformation parameter decisionunit 117, and the display image processing unit 118 performs the changeof image according to the fourth embodiment and the deformationprocessing according to this embodiment with respect to the image dataD. As a result, for example, such an image as depicted in FIG. 34 iscreated. Likewise, the image processing apparatus 110 can be configuredto perform the deformation processing and add the effect to an image sothat such an image as depicted in FIG. 35 can be created by combiningthis embodiment with the fifth embodiment. Additionally, the imageprocessing apparatus 110 may be configured to create such an image asdepicted in FIG. 36 by combining the change processing according to thefourth embodiment and the addition of the effect according to the fifthembodiment with the deformation processing according to this embodiment,for example.

Seventh Embodiment

A seventh embodiment according to the present invention will now bedescribed. Here, differences from the first and fourth embodiments willbe described, and like reference numerals denote like parts to omitexplanation thereof. Like the first embodiment, a digital cameraaccording to this embodiment has the configuration shown in FIG. 1. Achange value decision unit 116 according to this embodiment decidesvarious kinds of parameters of change processing performed with respectto image data D based on a frame-out accuracy obtained by a frame-outaccuracy judgment unit 114 like the first embodiment. A display imageprocessing unit 118 carries out the change processing with respect tothe image data D based on the decision of the change value decision unit116.

In the first embodiment, an accuracy related to the occurrence offrame-out of the object of interest from the image range is determinedbased on a distance between the center of the image range and the centerof gravity of the object of interest as a reference. Further, in thefourth embodiment, an accuracy related to the occurrence of frame-out ofthe object of interest from the image range is determined based on arelative movement speed of the object of interest with a display imagedetermined as a reference. On the other hand, in this embodiment, anaccuracy related to the occurrence of frame-out of the object ofinterest from the image range is determined based on parametersincluding both a distance between the center of the image range and thecenter of gravity of the object of interest and a relative movementspeed of the object of interest with the display image determined as thereference.

FIG. 46 shows a flowchart for explaining an operation of the imageprocessing apparatus 110 according to this embodiment. As shown in thisdrawing, like the step S101 in the first embodiment, anobject-of-interest detection unit 112 receives image data D created byan image signal generation unit 124 at a step S801. Theobject-of-interest detection unit 112 specifies a position of the objectof interest in an image represented by the image data D and outputs thespecified position of the object of interest to the frame-out accuracyjudgment unit 114.

At a step S802, the frame-out accuracy judgment unit 114 calculates adistance L between the center of an image range of the image and thecenter of gravity of the object of interest based on the position of theobject of interest specified by the object-of-interest detection unit112. Furthermore, at a step S803, the frame-out accuracy judgment unit114 calculates a temporal change of the position of the object ofinterest in the image, i.e., a relative movement speed V of the objectof interest (which will be simply referred to as a movement speed Vhereinafter) based on the position of the object of interest specifiedby the object-of-interest detection unit 112.

At a step S804, the frame-out accuracy judgment unit 114 calculates anaccuracy W related to the occurrence of frame-out of the object ofinterest from the image range as a product of the distance L and themovement speed V, i.e., W=L×V.

At a step S805, the frame-out accuracy judgment unit 114 judges whetherthe accuracy W of occurrence of the frame-out is equal to or below apredetermined value. When the accuracy W of occurrence of the frame-outis equal to or below the predetermined value, the frame-out accuracyjudgment unit 114 determines that the frame-out does not occur andoutputs its judgment result to the change value decision unit 116. Likethe step S104 in the first embodiment, at a step S806, the change valuedecision unit 116 decides not to perform the change processing withrespect the input change data D. The display image processing unit 118outputs the image data D which is not changed to a display unit 126 aschanged image data D′. As a result, the display unit 126 displays animage based on the changed image data D′ which is the image data D.

On the other hand, when it is determined that the accuracy W ofoccurrence of the frame-out is not equal to or below the predeterminedvalue at the step S805, the change value decision unit 116 sets aparameter concerning a change of a processing region where the displayimage is changed at a step S807. Here, description will be given as toan example of decreasing luminance of the processing region concerning aposition symmetrical to a position of the object of interest withrespect to the center of the image range in the display image. Here, anarea of the processing region where luminance of the display image isdecreased is enlarged as the accuracy W of occurrence of the frame-outis increased. In this case, the change value decision unit 116 decidesthe processing region where the luminance of the display image isdecreased at the step S807. The change value decision unit 116 outputsthe decided processing region to the display image processing unit 118.Additionally, the change value decision unit 116 outputs a type of thechange and an amount of the change, e.g., a decrease in luminance astype of the change and a predetermined amount as an amount ofdecreaseing the luminance to the display image processing unit 118.

At a step S808, the display image processing unit 118 carries out thechange processing with respect to input image data. For example, theluminance of the processing region decided by the change value decisionunit 116 is decreased. This example shows a case that the luminance ofthe processing region is decreased in a gradation pattern so that an endside of the image range can have extremely low luminance and a centralside of the image range can have relatively high luminance. Changedimage data D′ after the change processing is output to the display unit126. Any other structure and operation of the digital camera accordingto this embodiment are equal to those in the first embodiment.

According to this embodiment, the display unit 126 displays such imagesas shown in FIG. 47, for example. That is, when the distance L betweenthe center of the image range and the object of interest is large andthe movement speed V of the object of interest is high in the displayimage, the accuracy W related to the occurrence of frame-out of theobject of interest from the image range is high, and hence theprocessing region where the luminance in the display image is decreasedis wide. Further, when the distance L is small and the movement speed Vis low, the accuracy W is small, and hence the processing region wherethe luminance is lowered is narrow. When the distance L is small and themovement speed V is high, the accuracy W is moderate, and hence theprocessing region where the luminance is decreased is moderate.Furthermore, even when the distance L is large and the movement speed Vis low, the accuracy W is moderate, and hence the processing regionwhere the luminance is lowered is moderate.

According to this embodiment, an image in the processing region ischanged in accordance with a product of a value concerning a position ofthe object of interest and a value concerning the movement speed. As aresult, a user who holds the digital camera and confirms framing whileobserving the display unit 126 is guided to pan the digital camera sothat the change of the image can be suppressed and relative movement ofthe object of interest with respect to the display image can becomesmall in a direction which the object of interest moves to the center ofthe display area. Since the product of the value concerning the positionof the object of interest and the value concerning the movement speed isdetermined as the accuracy related to the occurrence of frame-out of theobject of interest from the image range, the accuracy can be moreprecisely evaluated as compared with a case that the accuracy related tothe occurrence of frame-out of the object of interest from the imagerange is evaluated based on the position of the object of interest aloneor the movement speed of the object of interest alone.

It is to be noted that the accuracy W related to the occurrence offrame-out of the object of interest from the image range is calculatedas the simple product of the distance L and the movement speed V (W=L×V)in the above description, but any kind of calculation can be used aslong as the accuracy W is a function having a positive correlation ofthe distance L and the movement speed V in an arithmetic operation usingL and V as arguments. For example, W=A×L^(T)ΔV^(S) (A, T, and S areconstants, respectively), a polynomial of L and V, and others can beadopted.

Furthermore, the predetermined value used in the judgment at the stepS805 may be determined as 0, and a threshold value does not have to beprovided for the judgment on whether the change processing is to becarried out.

Moreover, although the processing executed with respect to a displayimage is a change of luminance and a value that is changed in accordancewith the accuracy W of the frame-out is an area of the processing regionin the above description, the processing performed with respect to adisplay image may be filling with a black color, a change of resolution,sharpness, contrast, chroma, and a hue, or combinations of thesefactors, and the value that is changed in accordance with the accuracy Wof the frame-out may be an amount of change of luminance, resolution,sharpness, contrast, chroma, and a hue.

For instance, FIG. 48 shows a display image example when an amount ofchange of luminance is changed in accordance with the accuracy W. Inthis drawing, when the distance L between the center of the image rangeand the object of interest is large and the movement speed V of theobject of interest is high in the display image, the accuracy W relatedto the occurrence of frame-out of the object of interest from the imagerange is increased, and hence an amount of decrease in luminance of theprocessing region in the display image is large. Additionally, when thedistance L is small and the movement speed V is low, the accuracy W issmall, and hence the amount of decrease in luminance of the processingregion is small. When the distance L is small and the movement speed Vis high and when the distance L is large and the movement speed V islow, since the accuracy W is moderate, the amount of decrease inluminance of the processing region is moderate.

Eighth Embodiment

An eighth embodiment according to the present invention will now bedescribed. Here, differences from the second and seventh embodimentswill be described, and like reference numerals denote like parts to omitexplanation thereof. A digital camera according to this embodiment has aconfiguration shown in FIG. 15 like the second embodiment. An effectdecision unit 115 according to this embodiment decides various kinds ofparameters of an effect added to image data D based on a frame-outaccuracy obtained by a frame-out accuracy decision unit 114 like thesecond embodiment. A display image processing unit 118 adds the effectto the image data D based on the decision of the effect decision unit115.

In this embodiment, the frame-out accuracy judgment unit 114 decides anaccuracy related to the occurrence of frame-out of the object ofinterest from the image range based on parameters including both adistance between the center of gravity of the object of interest and thecenter of the image range and a movement speed of the object of interestin the image range represented by the image data D like the seventhembodiment.

FIG. 49 shows a flowchart for explaining an operation of an imageprocessing apparatus 110 according to this embodiment. As shown in thisdrawing, processing of a step S901 to a step S905 according to thisembodiment is equal to that of the step S801 to the step S805 accordingto the seventh embodiment, respectively. However, the change valuedecision unit 116 according to the seventh embodiment is substituted byan effect decision unit 115 in this embodiment.

When the frame-out accuracy decision judgment unit 114 determines that adistance between the center of the image range and the center of gravityof the object of interest is equal to or below a predetermined value ata step S905, the effect decision unit 115 decides not to add the effectto the input image data D. In response to this decision, the displayimage processing unit 118 directly outputs the image data D to thedisplay unit 126 as changed image data D′. As a result, the display unit126 displays an image based on the changed image data D′ which is theimage data D.

When it is determined that an accuracy W of occurrence of the frame-outis not equal to or below the predetermined value at the step S905, theframe-out accuracy judgment unit 114 determines that the frame-outoccurs and outputs this judgment result to the effect decision unit 115.The effect decision unit 115 decides the effect to be added to a displayimage at a step S907. Here, an ellipse is displayed with the center ofgravity of the object of interest at the center, and a line pattern ofthis ellipse is changed in accordance with the accuracy W of theframe-out. The effect decision unit 115 outputs the decided effect tothe display image processing unit 118.

At a step S908, the display image processing unit 118 adds the effect tothe input image data. Changed image data D′ having the effect addedthereto is output to a display unit 126. Any other structure andoperation of the digital camera according to this embodiment are equalto those in the second embodiment.

According to this embodiment, the display unit 126 displays such animage as depicted in FIG. 50. That is, when a distance L between thecenter of the image range and the object of interest OI is large and amovement speed V of the object of interest OI is high in an displayimage, since an accuracy W related to the occurrence of frame-out of theobject of interest OI from the image range is high, an ellipse as theeffect EF is indicated by a bold line in the display image. Further,when the distance L is small and the movement speed V is low, theaccuracy W is low, the ellipse as the effect EF is indicated by a thinline. When the distance L is small and the movement speed V is high,since the accuracy W is moderate, the line of the ellipse as the effectEF is moderate. Furthermore, when the distance L is large and themovement speed V is low, since the accuracy W is likewise moderate, theline of the ellipse as the effect EF is moderate.

According to this embodiment, the effect displayed in the image variesdepending on a product of a value concerning a position of the object ofinterest and a value concerning the movement speed. A user who holds thedigital camera and confirms framing while observing the display unit 126is guided to pan the digital camera in a direction that the object ofinterest moves to the center of a display area and a direction thatrelative movement of the object of interest with respect to the displayimage becomes small so that the effect can be suppressed. Since theproduct of the value concerning the position of the object of interestand the value concerning the movement speed is determined as theaccuracy related to the occurrence of frame-out of the object ofinterest from the image range, the image processing apparatus 110 canprecisely evaluate the accuracy as compared with a case that theaccuracy related to the occurrence of frame-out of the object ofinterest from the image range is evaluated based on the position of theobject of interest alone or the movement speed of the object of interestalone.

It is to be noted that, like the seventh embodiment, as the accuracy Wrelated to the occurrence of frame-out of the object of interest fromthe image range, any calculation can be used as long as the accuracy Wis a function having a position correlation with respect to the distanceL and the movement speed V in an arithmetic operation using L and V asarguments. Moreover, the predetermined value used in the judgment of thestep S905 may be set to 0, and a threshold value does not have to beprovided for the judgment on whether change processing is to beeffected.

Moreover, a pattern such as a color or density of the elliptic line asthe effect may be changed in accordance with the accuracy W, or an areaof a portion surrounded by the ellipse as the effect may be changed.Additionally, the effect is not restricted to the ellipse, and it may bea line parallel to a contour line and/or a line along the contour lineof the object of interest, and any other shape may be adopted. Further,the effect may be changed with time.

Furthermore, this embodiment and its various kinds of modifications canbe combined with the seventh embodiment to be used. That is, like theseventh embodiment, the change processing may be performed and theeffect may be added to a part of an image. In this case, the changevalue decision unit 116 in the seventh embodiment or the effect decisionunit 115 in this embodiment has functions of both the effect decisionunit 115 and the change value decision unit 116, and the display imageprocessing unit 118 makes a change of an image according to the seventhembodiment and addition of the effect according to the eighth embodimentwith respect to the image data D. As a result, for example, an imagehaving the effect EF added thereto and having the processing region PRsubjected to the change processing is created as shown in FIG. 26, forexample.

Ninth Embodiment

A ninth embodiment according to the present invention will now bedescribed. Here, differences from the third and seventh embodiments willbe described, and like reference numerals denote like parts to omitexplanation thereof. A digital camera according to this embodiment has aconfiguration depicted in FIG. 27 like the third embodiment. Adeformation parameter decision unit 117 according to this embodimentdecides various kinds parameters of deformation processing performedwith respect to image data D based on a frame-out accuracy obtained by aframe-out accuracy decision unit 114 like the third embodiment. Adisplay image processing unit 118 carries out the deformation processingon the image data D based on the decision of the deformation parameterdecision unit 117.

In this embodiment, the frame-out accuracy judgment unit 114 decides anaccuracy related to the occurrence of frame-out of the object ofinterest from the image range based on parameters including both adistance between the center of gravity of the object of interest and thecenter of the image range and a movement speed of the object of interestin the image range represented by the image data D like the seventhembodiment.

FIG. 51 shows a flowchart for explaining an operation of an imageprocessing apparatus 110 according to this embodiment. As shown in thisdrawing, processing of a step S1001 to a step S1005 according to thisembodiment is equal to that of the step S801 to the step S805 accordingto the seventh embodiment, respectively. However, the change valuedecision unit 116 according to the seventh embodiment is substituted bya deformation parameter decision unit 117 in this embodiment.

When the frame-out accuracy decision judgment unit 114 determines that adistance between the center of the image range and the center of gravityof the object of interest is equal to or below a predetermined value ata step S1005, the deformation parameter decision unit 117 decides not toperform the deformation processing on the input image data D at a stepS1006. In response to this decision, the display image processing unit118 directly outputs the image data D to a display unit 126 as changedimage data D′. As a result, the display unit 126 displays an image basedon the changed image data D′ which is the image data D.

When it is determined that the accuracy W that the frame-out occurs isnot equal to or below the predetermined value in the judgment of thestep S1005, the deformation parameter decision unit 117 sets adeformation parameter concerning deformation applied to a display imageat a step S1007. Here, like the third embodiment, as the deformationprocessing, there is carried out processing of shortening a sideopposing a side which is the closest to the object of interest in acontour of a rectangular display image to deform the entire displayimage into a trapezoidal shape. Further, the side to be shortened isreduced as the accuracy W that the frame-out occurs is increased. Thatis, the deformation parameter decision unit 117 decides as deformationparameters which one of fours sides, i.e., upper, lower, left, and rightsides is the side to be shortened and a ratio of reducing the side to beshortened. The deformation parameter decision unit 117 outputs thedecided deformation parameters to the display image processing unit 118.

At a step S1008, the display image processing unit 118 performs thedeformation processing with respect to the input image data. The displayimage processing unit 118 outputs deformed image data D′ after thedeformation processing to the display unit 126. Any other configurationand operation of the digital camera according to this embodiment areequal to those in the third embodiment.

According to this embodiment, the display unit 126 displays such animage as depicted in FIG. 52. That is, when a distance L between thecenter of the image range and the object of interest OI is large and amovement speed V of the object of interest is high in an display image,since an accuracy W related to the occurrence of frame-out of the objectof interest OI from the image range is high, distortion of the image islarge. Further, when the distance L is small and the movement speed V islow, the accuracy W is low, and hence the distortion of the image issmall. When the distance L is small and the movement speed V is high,since the accuracy W is moderate, the distortion of the image ismoderate. Furthermore, when the distance L is large and the movementspeed V is low, since the accuracy W is likewise moderate, thedistortion of the image is moderate.

According to this embodiment, the image is deformed in accordance with aproduct of a value concerning a position of the object of interest and avalue concerning the movement speed. As a result, a user who holds thedigital camera and confirms framing while observing the display unit 126is guided to pan the digital camera in a direction such that the objectof interest moves to the center of a display area and a direction suchthat relative movement of the object of interest with respect to thedisplay image becomes small so that the deformation of the image can besuppressed. Since the product of the value concerning the position ofthe object of interest and the value concerning the movement speed isdetermined as the accuracy related to the occurrence of frame-out of theobject of interest from the image range, the accuracy can be moreprecisely evaluated as compared with a case that the accuracy related tothe occurrence of frame-out of the object of interest from the imagerange is evaluated based on the position of the object of interest aloneor the movement speed of the object of interest alone.

It is to be noted that, like the seventh embodiment, as the accuracy Wrelated to the occurrence of frame-out of the object of interest fromthe image range, any calculation can be used as long as the accuracy Wis a function having a positive correlation with respect to the distanceL and the movement speed V in an arithmetic operation using L and V asarguments. Moreover, the predetermined value used in the judgment of thestep S1005 may be set to 0, and a threshold value does not have to beprovided for the judgment on whether deformation processing is to beeffected.

Additionally, in the above description, in the contour of therectangular display image, the side opposing the side which is theclosest to the object of interest is shortened to deform the entireimage into the trapezoidal shape like the third embodiment. The presentinvention is not restricted thereto, and the side corresponding to therear side of a moving direction of the object of interest may beshortened to deform the display image into the trapezoidal shape.Further, like the first modification of the third embodiment, the imagemay be expanded or shrunk in a predetermined direction in accordancewith a position of the object of interest, or the image may be expandedor shrunk in a predetermined direction in accordance with a movingdirection. Furthermore, the image may be expanded or shrunk in apredetermined direction while deforming the contour of the image inaccordance with a position or a moving direction of the object ofinterest like the second modification of the third embodiment.

Moreover, this embodiment and its various modifications can be combinedwith the seventh embodiment and/or the eighth embodiment to be used.That is, a part of an image can be subjected to the change processinglike the seventh embodiment and the deformation processing like thisembodiment. In this case, the change value decision unit 116 in theseventh embodiment or the deformation parameter decision unit 117 inthis embodiment has functions of both the change value decision unit 116and the deformation parameter decision unit 117, and the display imageprocessing unit 118 executes the change processing for an imageaccording to the seventh embodiment and the deformation processingaccording to this embodiment with respect to the image data D. As aresult, for example, such an image as depicted in FIG. 34 is created.Likewise, the image processing apparatus 110 may be configured in such amanner that the deformation processing can be executed and the effectcan be added to an image to create such an image as depicted in FIG. 35by combining this embodiment with the eighth embodiment. Furthermore,the image processing apparatus 110 may be configured to create such animage as depicted in FIG. 36 by combining the change processingaccording to the seventh embodiment, the addition of the effectaccording to the eighth embodiment, and the deformation processingaccording to the ninth embodiment, for example.

10th Embodiment

A 10th embodiment according to the present invention will now bedescribed. Here, a difference from the seventh embodiment will bedescribed, and like reference numerals denote like parts to omitexplanation thereof. In the seventh embodiment, the accuracy W relatedto the occurrence of frame-out of the object of interest from the imagerange as one parameter including parameters of both a distance L betweenthe center of the image range and the center of gravity of the object ofinterest and a relative movement speed V of the object of interest basedon a display image is represented when performing image changeprocessing on the image range. On the other hand, in this embodiment, afirst parameter is assigned to the distance L, and a second parameter isassigned to the relative movement speed V.

FIG. 53 shows a flowchart for explaining an operation of an imageprocessing apparatus 110 according to this embodiment. As shown in thedrawing, like the step S801 in the seventh embodiment, anobject-of-interest detection unit 112 receives image data D created byan image signal generation unit 124 at a step S1101. Theobject-of-interest detection unit 112 specifies a position of the objectof interest in an image represented by the image data D and outputs thespecified position of the object of interest to the frame-out accuracyjudgment unit 114.

At a step S1102, the frame-out accuracy judgment unit 114 calculates adistance L between the center of an image range of the image and thecenter of gravity of the object of interest based on the position of theobject of interest specified by the object-of-interest detection unit112. Furthermore, at a step S1103, like the step S803 in the seventhembodiment, the frame-out accuracy judgment unit 114 calculates atemporal change V of the position of the object of interest in theimage, i.e., a relative movement speed V of the object of interest(which will be simply referred to as a movement speed V hereinafter)based on the position of the object of interest specified by theobject-of-interest detection unit 112.

A change value decision unit 116 sets the first parameter concerning achange that is made to a processing region of a display image based onthe calculated distance L at a step S1104. Further, at a step S1105, thechange value decision unit 116 sets the second parameter concerning achange that is made to the processing region of the display image basedon the calculated movement speed V. The change value decision unit 116outputs the set first parameter and second parameter to a display imageprocessing unit 118.

The display image processing unit 118 performs change processing basedon the first parameter and the second parameter with respect to theinput image data D. The display image processing unit 118 outputschanged image data D′ after the change processing to a display unit 126.Any other structure and operation of the digital camera according tothis embodiment are equal to those in the seventh embodiment.

Here, for example, the change made to the display image is luminance ofthe display image, the first parameter that is changed in accordancewith the distance L is an area of the processing region where theluminance is decreased, and the second parameter that is changed inaccordance with the movement speed V is an amount of change of theluminance to be decreased. In this case, at the step S1104, an area ofthe processing region is set in such a manner that the area of theprocessing region is enlarged as the distance L is increased.Furthermore, at the step S1105, the amount of decreasing the luminanceto be changed is increased as the movement speed V rises. As a result,for example, such a display image as shown in FIG. 54 is created. Thatis, the area of the processing region is relatively large when thedistance L is relatively large, and the area of the processing region isrelatively small when the distance L is relatively small. Moreover, theamount of change is relatively large (dark) when the movement speed V isrelatively high, and the amount of change is relatively small (bright)when the movement speed V is relatively low.

According to this embodiment, since the change based on the distance Land the change based on the movement speed V are made to the displayimage, a user can simultaneously perceive information concerning thedistance L and information concerning the movement speed V by observingthe display image.

In the above-described example, although both the change concerning thefirst parameter and the change concerning the second parameter aredescribed as the change of luminance of the display image, they may bethe change of any one of resolution, sharpness, contrast, chroma, and ahue. Moreover, the change concerning the first parameter and the changeconcerning the second parameter are not the same type of change, andthey can be selected from filling with a black color, and a change ofluminance, resolution, sharpness, contrast, chroma, and a hue. In thiscase, either an area of the processing region or an amount of change canbe used for each of the first parameter and the second parameter.

For example, when the change concerning the first parameter is fillingwith a black color, or a change of luminance, resolution, sharpness,contrast, chroma, or a hue and the change concerning the secondparameter is one of filling with a black color, or a change ofluminance, resolution, sharpness, contrast, chroma, or a hue excludingthe change concerning the first parameter, a combination of the firstparameter and the second parameter may be any one of the followingparameters. That is, the first parameter may be an area of theprocessing region, and the second parameter may be an area of theprocessing region. Moreover, the first parameter may be an area of theprocessing region, and the second parameter may be an amount of change.Additionally, the first parameter may be an amount of change, and thesecond parameter may be an area of the processing region. Further, thefirst parameter may be an amount of change, and the second parameter maybe an amount of change. For example, the change concerning the firstparameter may be luminance, the first parameter may be an area of theprocessing region, the change concerning the second parameter may beresolution, and the second parameter may be amount of resolution. Thatis, the luminance of the processing region whose area is changed inaccordance with the distance L can be decreased by a predeterminedamount, and the resolution of a predetermined processing region can bedecreased by an amount of change associated with the movement speed V.Other combinations are processed in the same manner.

However, when filling with the black color is carried out, imageinformation of this portion is lost, hence a user may not have realized,even though this portion is changed. Therefore, when the processingregion that is filled with the black color is wide, the user will notnotice the other change even though this filling is combined with anyother parameter. Additionally, for example, since the user is unlikelyto identify a difference between, e.g., resolution and sharpness, it isdesirable to avoid using the resolution and the sharpness for the firstparameter and the second parameter. As described above, facilitation ofrecognition by the user differs in the display image depending on eachcombination of the change parameters. Therefore, it is desirable tocombine the change parameters that can be readily recognized by theuser. For example, it is desirable to use combinations that can beeasily recognized by the user, e.g., luminance and sharpness, chroma andsharpness, luminance and resolution, chroma and resolution, contrast andresolution, chroma and contrast, and others.

11th Embodiment

An 11th embodiment according to the present invention will now bedescribed. Here, a difference from the second and 10th embodiment willbe described, and like reference numerals denote like parts to omitexplanation thereof. A digital camera according to this embodiment has aconfiguration shown in FIG. 15 like the second embodiment. An effectdecision unit 115 according to this embodiment decides various kinds ofparameters of an effect added to image data D based on a frame-outaccuracy obtained by a frame-out accuracy judgment unit 114 like thesecond embodiment. A display image processing unit 118 adds the effectto the image data D based on the decision of the effect decision unit115.

In this embodiment, like the 10th embodiment, the frame-out accuracydecision unit 114 assigns a first parameter to a distance L between thecenter of gravity of an object of interest and the center of image rangeand assigns a second parameter to a movement speed V of the object ofinterest in the image range represented by the image data D.

FIG. 55 shows a flowchart for explaining an operation of an imageprocessing apparatus 110 according to this embodiment. As shown in thedrawing, processing of a step S1201 to a step S1203 according to thisembodiment is equal to processing of the step S1101 to the step S1103according to the 10th embodiment. However, the change value decisionunit 116 in the 10th embodiment is substituted by the effect decisionunit 115 in this embodiment.

At a step S1204, the effect decision unit 115 sets the first parameterconcerning a change that is made to a processing region of a displayimage based on the calculated distance L. Furthermore, the effectdecision unit 115 sets the second parameter concerning a change that ismade to the processing region of the display image at a step S1205. Theeffect decision unit 115 outputs the set first parameter and secondparameter, i.e., information concerning effects to the display imageprocessing unit 118. In this manner, for example, the distance L betweenthe center of gravity of the object of interest and the center of theimage range and the movement speed V of the object of interest functionas a frame-out accuracy indicative of an accuracy that a position ofinterest deviates from the image range.

At a step S1206, the display image processing unit 118 adds an effect toan image of the input image data based on the information concerning theeffect including the first parameter and the second parameter to createchanged image data D′. The display image processing unit 118 outputs thechanged image data D′ after the change processing to a display unit 126.Any other structure and operation of the digital camera according tothis embodiment are equal to those in the second embodiment.

Here, for example, it is assumed that the effect is an ellipse, thefirst parameter changed in accordance with the distance L is a thicknessof a line of the ellipse, and the second parameter changed in accordancewith the movement speed V is an area of a portion surrounded by theellipse. In this case, at the step S1204, the line of the ellipse is setto be bold as the distance L is increased. Moreover, at the step S1205,the area of the portion surrounded by the ellipse is set to be larger asthe movement speed V is increased. As a result, such a display image asdepicted in FIG. 56 is created, for example. That is, the line of theellipse as the effect EF is relatively bold when the distance L isrelatively large, and the line of the ellipse is relatively thin whenthe distance is relatively small. Additionally, the area of the portionsurrounded by the ellipse is relatively large when the movement speed Vis relatively high, and the area of the portion surrounded by theellipse is relatively small when the movement speed V is relatively low.

According to this embodiment, the effect shown on the image varies inaccordance with a value concerning a position of the object of interestand a value concerning the movement speed. A user who holds the digitalcamera and confirms framing while observing the display unit 126 isguided to pan the digital camera in a direction such that the object ofinterest moves to the center of a display area and a direction such thatrelative movement of the object of interest with respect to the displayimage becomes small so that the effect can be suppressed. Here, sincethe effect shown in the display image differs in accordance with theparameter based on the distance L and the parameter based on themovement speed V, the user can simultaneously perceive the informationconcerning the distance L and the information concerning the movementspeed V.

Each of the first parameter and the second parameter can take any form.Further, the effect is not restricted to the ellipse, and any shape canbe adopted.

Furthermore, this embodiment and its various modifications can becombined with the 10th embodiment to be used. That is, like the 10thembodiment, the change processing may be performed and the effect may beadded to a part of an image. In this case, the change value decisionunit 116 in the 10th embodiment or the effect decision unit 115 in thisembodiment has functions of both the effect decision unit 115 and thechange value decision unit 116, and the display image processing unit118 performs the change of an image according to the first embodimentand the addition of the effect according to the second embodiment withrespect to the image data D.

For example, it is assumed that the change that is made to a displayimage is the luminance of the display image and the first parameter thatis changed in accordance with the distance L is an area of a processingregion where luminance is lowered. Additionally, it is also assumed thatthe effect is an ellipse and the second parameter that is changed inaccordance with the movement speed V is an area of a portion surroundedby the ellipse. In this case, at the step S1204, an area of theprocessing region is set in such a manner that the area of theprocessing region is enlarged as the distance L is increased. Further,at a step S1205, an area of the portion surrounded by the ellipse is setto be enlarged as the movement speed V is increased. As a result, forexample, such a display image as depicted in FIG. 57 is created. Thatis, the area of the processing region is relatively large when thedistance L is relatively large, and the area of the processing region isrelatively small when the distance L is relatively small. Furthermore,the area of the portion surrounded by the ellipse is relatively largewhen the movement speed V is relatively high, and the area of theportion surrounded by the ellipse is relatively small as the movementspeed V is relatively low.

12th Embodiment

A 12th embodiment according to the present invention will now bedescribed. Here, differences from the third and 10th embodiments will bedescribed, and like reference numerals denote like parts to omitexplanation thereof. A digital camera according to this embodiment has aconfiguration shown in FIG. 27 like the third embodiment. A deformationparameter decision unit 117 according to this embodiment decides variouskinds of parameters of deformation processing performed with respect toimage data D based on a frame-out accuracy obtained by a frame-outaccuracy judgment unit 114 like the third embodiment. A display imageprocessing unit 118 carries out the deformation processing with respectto the image data D based on the decision of the deformation parameterdecision unit 117.

In this embodiment, like the 10th embodiment, the frame-out accuracyjudgment unit 114 assigns a first parameter to a distance L between thecenter of gravity of an object of interest and the center of an imagerange and assigns a second parameter to a movement speed V of the objectof interest in the image range represented by the image data D.

FIG. 58 shows a flowchart for explaining an operation of an imageprocessing apparatus 110 according to this embodiment. As shown in thedrawing, processing of a step S1301 to a step S1303 according to thisembodiment is equal to the processing of the step S1101 to the stepS1103 according to the 10th embodiment. However, the change valuedecision unit 116 in the 10th embodiment is substituted by a deformationparameter decision unit 117 in this embodiment.

The deformation parameter decision unit 117 sets the first parameterconcerning a change that is made to a processing region of a displayimage based on the calculated distance L at a step S1304. Further, at astep S1305, the deformation parameter decision unit 117 sets the secondparameter concerning a change that is made to the processing region ofthe display image based on the calculated movement speed V. Thedeformation parameter decision unit 117 outputs the set first parameterand second parameter to a display image processing unit 118.

The display image processing unit 118 performs deformation processingbased on the first parameter and the second parameter with respect tothe input image data. The display image processing unit 118 outputschanged image data D′ after the change processing to a display unit 126.Any other structure and operation of the digital camera according tothis embodiment are equal to those in the third embodiment.

Here, for example, the deformation performed with respect to the displayimage is determined to be deformation of changing a contour of the imageinto a trapezoidal shape and deformation of expanding or shrinking theimage in a predetermined direction. It is assumed that the firstparameter changed in accordance with the distance L is anexpansion/shrinkage ratio and its direction for expanding/shrinking theimage in a perpendicular direction of a side which is the closest to theobject of interest in a contour of the display image and the secondparameter changed in accordance with the movement speed V is a sideopposing the side which is the closest to the object of interest in thecontour of the display image and a ratio for reducing this side. In thiscase, at the step S1304, the expansion/shrinkage ratio of the image israised as the distance L is increased, and the image is greatlydistorted. Further, at the step S1305, one side in the contour of theimage is shortened and the contour of the image is greatly distorted asthe movement speed V is increased.

As a result, for example, such a display image as depicted in FIG. 59 iscreated. That is, the expansion/shrinkage ratio of the image isrelatively high when the distance L is relatively large, and theexpansion/shrinkage ratio of the image is relatively low when thedistance L is relatively small. Furthermore, an amount of deformation ofthe contour is relatively large when the movement speed V is relativelyhigh, and the amount of deformation of the contour is relatively smallwhen the movement speed V is relatively low.

According to this embodiment, since the deformation based on thedistance L and the deformation based on the movement speed V are made tothe display image, a user can simultaneously perceive informationconcerning the distance L and information concerning the movement speedV by observing the display image.

Although the deformation concerning the first parameter has beendescribed as the expansion/shrinkage ratio of the image in the displayimage and the deformation concerning the second parameter has beendescribed as the ratio for reducing the side opposing the side which isthe closest to the object of interest in the contour of the displayimage in the above example, the first parameter and the second parametermay be associated to have a reversed relationship.

Moreover, this embodiment can be combined with the 10th embodimentand/or the 11th embodiment to be used. That is, like the 10thembodiment, the change processing may be performed with respect to apart of the image like the 10th embodiment, and the deformationprocessing may be executed with respect to the same like thisembodiment. In this case, the change value decision unit 116 in the 10thembodiment or the deformation parameter decision unit 117 in thisembodiment has functions of both the change value decision unit 116 andthe deformation parameter decision unit 117, and the display imageprocessing unit 118 executes a change of the image according to thetenth embodiment and the deformation processing according to thisembodiment with respect to the image data D.

What concerns the first parameter is assumed to be the above-describeddeformation of an image. Additionally, a value of the first parameter isassumed to a value concerning a side opposing a side which is theclosest to the object of interest in a contour of a display image and aratio for reducing this side in the deformation of changing the contourof the image into a trapezoidal shape. At this time, as the secondparameter, the following change processing performed with respect to theimage can be considered.

For example, as shown in FIG. 60, change processing of specifying aportion concerning a position symmetrical to a position of the object ofinterest with respect to the center of the image range as a processingregion PR and filling this processing region PR with a black color canbe considered as the change processing. At this time, an area of theprocessing region PR which is subjected to the change processing, i.e.,the processing of filling with the black color is changed in accordancewith a level of the movement speed V.

Further, for example, as shown in FIG. 61, change processing ofspecifying a portion concerning a position symmetrical to a position ofthe object of interest with respect to the center of the image range asthe processing region PR and decreasing luminance of this processingregion PR by a predetermined amount can be considered as the changeprocessing. At this time, an area of the processing region PR is changedin accordance with a level of the movement speed V. Moreover, as shownin FIG. 62, a degree of luminance that is decreased in the processingregion PR may be changed in accordance with a level of the movementspeed V.

Additionally, for example, as shown in FIG. 63, a change processing ofdecreasing resolution of the processing region PR by a predeterminedamount can be considered. At this time, an area of the processing regionPR is changed in accordance with a level of the movement speed V.Further, a degree of the resolution to be decreased in the processingregion PR may be changed in accordance with a level of the movementspeed V.

Further, for example, as shown in FIG. 64, change processing ofdecreasing sharpness of the processing region PR by a predeterminedamount can be considered. At this time, an area of the processing regionPR is changed in accordance with a level of the movement speed V.Furthermore, a degree of the sharpness to be decreased in the processingregion PR may be changed in accordance with a level of the movementspeed V.

Moreover, for example, as shown in FIG. 65, change processing ofdecreasing the contrast of the processing region PR by a predeterminedamount can be considered. At this time, an area of the processing regionPR is changed in accordance with a level of the movement speed V.Additionally, a degree of the contrast to be decreased in the processingregion PR may be changed in accordance with a level of the movementspeed V.

Further, for example, change processing of decreasing the chroma of theprocessing region PR by a predetermined amount to provide a displayclose to gray can be considered. At this time, an area of the processingregion PR is changed in accordance with a level of the movement speed V.Furthermore, a degree of the chroma to be decreased in the processingregion PR may be changed in accordance with a level of the movementspeed V.

Moreover, for example, change processing of changing a hue of theprocessing region PR by a predetermined amount can be considered. Atthis time, an area of the processing region PR is changed in accordancewith a level of the movement speed V. Additionally, a degree of the hueto be decreased in the processing region PR may be changed in accordancewith a level of the movement speed V.

Further, some of elements selected from filling with the black color andchanges of luminance, resolution, sharpness, contrast, chroma, and a huemay be combined. Furthermore, in each of the above-described cases, forexample, expansion/shrinkage of an image in a predetermined direction inaccordance with a position of the object of interest described withreference to FIG. 32B may be assigned to the deformation using the firstparameter. Moreover, any one change of an image selected from thefilling with the black color and the changes of luminance, resolution,sharpness, contrast, chroma, and a hue may be applied to the firstparameter, and deformation of changing a contour of an image into atrapezoidal shape or deformation of an image, i.e., expanding/shrinkingan image in a predetermined direction may be assigned to the secondparameter.

Additionally, this embodiment may be combined with the 11th embodiment.That is, the deformation processing may be applied to an image like thisembodiment, and an effect may be added to the image like the 11thembodiment. For example, the first parameter is determined as theabove-described deformation of an image, and it is determined as a sideopposing a side which is the closest to the object of interest in acontour of a display image and a ratio of reducing this side in thedeformation of changing the contour of the image into a trapezoidalshape. Further, the effect is determined as an ellipse, and the secondparameter changed in accordance with the movement speed V is determinedas an area of a portion surrounded by the ellipse.

In this case, for example, such a display image as depicted in FIG. 66is created. That is, a ratio of deformation is relatively large when thedistance L is relatively large, and the ratio of deformation isrelatively small when the distance L is relatively small. Further, anarea of the portion surrounded by the ellipse as the effect EF isrelatively large when the movement speed V is relatively low, and thearea of the portion surrounded by the ellipse is relatively small whenthe movement speed V is relatively low.

Further, in regard to the addition of the effect, a thickness of theline of the ellipse as the effect EF may be changed using the secondparameter. Furthermore, expansion/shrinkage of an image in apredetermined direction in accordance with a position of the object ofinterest may be assigned to the deformation using the first parameter.Moreover, the addition of the effect may be assigned to the firstparameter, and the deformation of an image may be assigned to the secondparameter.

In any case, since the deformation or the change based on the distance Land the deformation or the change based on the movement speed V areperformed with respect to a display image, a user can simultaneouslyperceive information concerning the distance L and informationconcerning the movement speed V by observing the display image.

It is to be noted that, in the fourth to 12th embodiments, like thefirst embodiment, the object of interest does not have to be present inthe image range, and the same processing can be executed in accordancewith a temporal change in position of the object of interest outside theimage range when the object-of-interest detection unit 112 can specify aposition of the object of interest outside the image range.Additionally, when the object of interest is present outside the imagerange like the above description, the position of the object of interestmay be specified by image processing. Further, the object-of-interestdetection unit 112 may be configured to receive raw data output from theimaging unit 122 as it is, and the position of the object of interestmay be specified based on the raw data. Furthermore, a reference forobtaining a positional relationship between the image range and theposition of the object of interest is not restricted to using the centerof the image range, and any other portion may be determined as thereference. Moreover, the position of the object of interest is notrestricted to the center of gravity of a object of interest, and thetarget matter can be placed on a face or a frame of a person in an imagewhen the object of interest is, e.g., a person, and any references maybe provided. Additionally, the object of interest is not restricted to aperson, and any kind of object can be used. Further, as a method fordetecting the object of interest by the object-of-interest detectionunit 112, any methods can be adopted.

13th Embodiment

A 13th embodiment according to the present invention will now bedescribed. Here, a difference from the first embodiment will bedescribed, and like reference numerals denote like parts to omitexplanation thereof. In the first embodiment, the object-of-interestdetection unit 112 receives image data D from the image signalgeneration unit and specifies a position of the object of interest basedon an image represented by the image data D. On the other hand, in thisembodiment, a tracking sensor is additionally provided to specify aposition of the object of interest.

FIG. 67 shows an outline of a configuration of a digital cameraaccording to this embodiment. As shown in the drawing, this digitalcamera is different from the digital camera according to the firstembodiment in that a tracking sensor 130 is provided. The trackingsensor 130 may be, e.g., a camera having a tracking imaging sectiondifferent from the imaging unit 122. A basic configuration is the sameas that of the first embodiment, and an object-of-interest detectionunit 112 receives image data from the camera having the tracking imagingunit and specifies a position of the object of interest based on animage represented by the image data like the first embodiment.

In this case, the imaging unit 122 in the digital camera and thetracking imaging unit functioning as the tracking sensor 130 can beconfigured to acquire images having different field angles. For example,when an imaging range of the tracking imaging unit that functions as thetracking sensor 130 is widened beyond an imaging range of the imagingunit 122, the object of interest present outside the imaging range ofthe imaging unit 122 can be imaged by the tracking imaging unit thatfunctions as the tracking sensor 130. As a result, theobject-of-interest detection unit 112 can specify a position of theobject of interest outside the field angle of the imaging unit 122.

Further, the tracking sensor 130 may be a receiving apparatus thatdetects electric waves from an electric wave source when the electricwave source is arranged on the object of interest. In this case, theobject-of-interest detection unit 112 acquires a reception signal ofelectric waves, which are emitted from the electric wave source, fromthe receiving apparatus functioning as the tracking sensor 130. Theobject-of-interest detection unit 112 specifies a position of theelectric wave source with respect to the image range based on thereception signal.

Furthermore, the tracking sensor 130 may be an infrared sensor thatdetects infrared rays emitted from an infrared source arranged on theobject of interest, a temperature sensor that senses a temperature ofthe object of interest, or various kinds of sensors that can sense asignal from the object of interest.

When each of such sensors that sense a signal of the electric waves, theinfrared rays, the temperature, and others from the object of interestis used as the tracking sensor 130, a position of the object of interestcan be acquired irrespective of a focal length and field angle of theimaging unit 122. Moreover, using each of these sensors enablesspecifying a position of the object of interest when a feature point ofthe object of interest is hard to extract from an image or whenspecifying a position of the object of interest based on an image isdifficult.

In this embodiment, the object-of-interest detection unit 112 specifiesa position of the object of interest with respect to the image rangebased on information input from the tracking sensor 130 and outputs thespecified position to a frame-out accuracy judgment unit 114. In thisembodiment, any other structure and operation are equal to those of thefirst, fourth, seventh, and 10th embodiments except using informationacquired by the tracking sensor 130 when the object-of-interestdetection unit 112 specifies a position of the object of interest.

In this embodiment, likewise, the digital camera can guide a user, whois adjusting framing while observing a display image, to perform framingso that the object of interest can be placed at an appropriate positionin an imaging range by displaying in the display unit 126 the displayimage processed by the image processing apparatus 110. As a change madeto an image, it is possible to use any change described in the first,fourth, seventh, and 10th embodiments and their modifications.

It is to be noted that the object of interest does not have to bepresent in the range of a display image in this embodiment. That is,when the tracking sensor 130 is configured to specify a position of theobject of interest outside the image range displayed in the display unit126, the image processing apparatus 110 can execute the same processingwith respect to the object of interest present outside the range of thedisplay image in accordance with a position of this object. Therefore,as the tracking sensor 130, for example, the tracking imaging unit thatcan image a wider range than the display image range can be used asdescribed above. Further, as the tracking sensor 130, it is possible touse an electric wave receiving apparatus, an infrared sensor, atemperature sensor, or any other various kinds of sensors that canreceive a signal from a wider range than the display image range, forexample. Furthermore, as described above, when the object of interest ispresent outside the image range, a position of the object of interestmay be specified based on a shape of a processing region as shown inFIG. 7.

Moreover, this embodiment can be applied to the second, fifth, eighth,and 11th embodiments and their modifications. In this case, an outlineof a configuration of this digital camera is as shown in FIG. 68. Thatis, this digital camera includes the tracking sensor 130, and theobject-of-interest detection unit 112 specifies a position of the objectof interest based on information input from this tracking sensor 130.Any other structures are equal to those of the second, fifth, eighth,and 11th embodiments and their modifications.

Additionally, this embodiment can be applied to the third, sixth, ninth,and 12th embodiments and their modifications. In this case, an outlineof a configuration of this digital camera is as shown in FIG. 69. Thatis, this digital camera includes the tracking sensor 130, and theobject-of-interest detection unit 112 specifies a position of the objectof interest based on information input from this tracking sensor 130.Any other structures are equal to those of the third, sixth, ninth, and12th embodiments and their modifications.

Further, like the first to 12th embodiments, the change value decisionunit 116, the effect decision unit 115, and the deformation parameterdecision unit 117 according to each embodiment can be combined with eachother.

14th Embodiment

A 14th embodiment according to the present invention will now bedescribed. Here, a difference from the first embodiment will bedescribed, and like reference numerals denote like parts to omitexplanation thereof. A digital camera according to this embodiment has azoom optical system. The digital camera according to this embodimentoperates an image processing apparatus 110 in cooperation with azoom-in/out operation.

FIG. 70 shows an outline of a configuration of the digital cameraaccording to this embodiment. As shown in the drawing, this digitalcamera has a zoom optical system 142 in an imaging unit 122. Further,this digital camera has a zoom switch 144 connected to a main controller128. The zoom optical system 142 is a general zoom optical system foruse in, e.g., a digital camera. An operation of this zoom optical system142 is controlled by the main controller 128. That is, a focal length ofthe zoom optical system 142 is changed to a wide side and a telephotoside under control of the main controller 128.

The zoom switch 144 functions as an input unit which receives aninstruction from a user concerning an operation of the zoom opticalsystem 142. The zoom switch 144 includes two button switches configuredto input an operation of the zoom optical system 142 to the wide sideand an operation of the same to the telephoto side, respectively.Furthermore, the zoom switch 144 may be a touch panel provided on adisplay unit 126.

The zoom switch 144 outputs the input instruction from the userconcerning a change in focal length of the zoom optical system to themain controller 128. The main controller 128 controls an operation ofthe zoom optical system 142 based on the instruction from the user inputfrom the zoom switch 144. That is, the main controller 128 changes thefocal length of the zoom optical system 142.

In this embodiment, the main controller 128 controls start and end of anoperation of the image processing apparatus 110 in accordance with aninput from the zoom switch 144. The operation of the main controlleraccording to this embodiment will now be described with reference to aflowchart shown in FIG. 71.

At a step S1401, the main controller 128 judges whether a zoom operationhas started. When it is determined that the zoom operation has startedat the step S1401, the processing advances to a step S1402.

At the step S1402, the main controller 128 allows the image processingapparatus 110 to function in order to create changed image data D′obtained by performing change processing with respect to an image basedon input image data D. Here, the creation of the changed image data D′by the image processing apparatus 110 is as described in the firstembodiment with reference to FIG. 2. That is, the image processingapparatus 110 specifies a position of an object of interest, decides aprocessing region in accordance with a positional relationship betweenthe center of a display area and the center of the object of interest,carries out the change processing on the image to change the inside ofthe processing region, and outputs the changed image data D′ obtainedafter the processing to a display unit 126. As a result, the displayunit 126 displays an image obtained after the change processing based onthe changed image data D′ input from a display image processing unit 118of the image processing apparatus 110.

At a step S1403, the main controller 128 judges whether the zoomoperation is stopped. When it is determined that the zoom operation isstopped at the step S1403, the processing returns to the step S1401. Onthe other hand, when it is determined that the zoom operation is notstopped at the step S1403, the processing is returned to the step S1402,and the main controller 128 allows the image processing apparatus 110 torepeat the creation of a changed image.

When it is determined that the zoom operation is not started at the stepS1401, the processing is shifted to the step S1404. At the step S1404,the main controller 128 does not allow the image processing apparatus110 to perform the change processing. That is, the main controller 128allows the display image processing unit 118 in the image processingapparatus 110 to directly output the input image data D to the displayunit 126 as the changed image data D′. As a result, the display unit 126directly displays an image based on the unchanged image data D inputfrom the display image processing unit 118 of the image processingapparatus 110 as an image based on the changed image data D′.

At a step S1405, the main controller 128 judges whether the processingis terminated. When it is determined that the processing is notterminated at the step S1405, the processing is returned to the stepS1401. On the other hand, when it is determined that the processing isterminated at the step S1405, the processing is terminated.

In this embodiment, in which the operation is performed as describedabove, the change processing is not performed when the zoom-in/out isnot effected. On the other hand, when the zoom-in/out is effected, thechange processing is carried out like the first embodiment. At the timeof zoom-in, such an image as depicted in FIG. 72 is displayed, forexample. As shown in an upper view of FIG. 72, a distance between thecenter of the object of interest OI and the center of a display area DAis short in an image acquired in a wide field of view. On the otherhand, the distance between the center of the object of interest OI andthe display area DA is gradually increased as the zoom-in advances asshown in a middle view and a lower left view in FIG. 72.

When the distance between the center of the object of interest OI andthe center of the display area DA is increased, the image processingapparatus 110 sets a processing region PR at a position symmetrical tothe object of interest OI with respect to the center of the display areaDA as shown in the lower left view in FIG. 72, and image processing offilling the processing region PR with a black color is carried out.Here, when a user pans the digital camera to the left side, the objectof interest OI is placed near the center of the display area DA. As aresult, an image having no portion filled with the black color isdisplayed as shown in a lower right view of FIG. 72. In this manner, forexample, the main controller 128 functions as a control unit whichjudges whether the imaging unit has started to exercise a zoom functionand allows the image processing apparatus to execute alterationprocessing when the zoom function has started to be exercised.

In this embodiment, the digital camera having the image processingapparatus 110 can guide a user so that the object of interest can bealways placed in the display area. At the time of zoom-in/out, theobject of interest is apt to deviate from the display area since a fieldangle is changed. In particular, when the zoom-in is effected, the fieldangle is narrowed, and the object of interest is apt to deviate from thedisplay area. Therefore, like this embodiment, allowing the imageprocessing apparatus 110 to function at the time of the zoom-in/out iseffective for guiding the user so that the object of interest can bealways placed within the display area.

It is to be noted that, in this embodiment, the image processingapparatus 110 is allowed function at the time of zoom-in/out and theimage processing apparatus 110 is not allowed to function in any othercase. That is because a throughput of an arithmetic apparatus as themain controller 128 or the image processing apparatus 110 is taken intoconsideration. In general, at the time of the zoom-in/out, shooting isusually not effected. In this case, the arithmetic apparatus has amargin of processing. On the other hand, when the zoom-in/out iseffected, the object of interest is apt to deviate from the displayarea. Therefore, in this embodiment, the arithmetic apparatus isconfigured to perform the change processing at the time of thezoom-in/out. When the arithmetic apparatus has a margin of throughput,the digital camera may be configured in such a manner that the imageprocessing apparatus 110 can function irrespective of the zoom-in/out.

In this embodiment, although the same processing as that in the firstembodiment is carried out at the step S1402 in the above description,the present invention is not restricted thereto. When the imageprocessing apparatus 110 is configured like the second to 12thembodiments, the main controller 128 enables the image processingapparatus 110 to perform such image processing as that in the second to12th embodiments at the step S1402.

Moreover, when the digital camera has a tracking sensor 130 like the13th embodiment, the image processing apparatus 110 is allowed toperform the same image processing as that in the 13th embodiment at thestep S1402.

Additionally, although the imaging unit 122 has the zoom optical systemin this embodiment, the present invention is not restricted to zoomutilizing the optical system, and the same function and the same effectcan be obtained even when so-called digital zoom is used.

Modification of 14th Embodiment

A difference of a modification of the 14th embodiment from the 14thembodiment will be explained. In this modification, a display resetswitch is further provided in the zoom switch 144. An operation of themain controller 128 based on this modification will now be describedwith reference to a flowchart shown in FIG. 73.

At a step S1501, the main controller 128 judges whether a zoom operationis started. When the zoom operation is determined to be started at thestep S1501, the processing advances to a step S1502.

At the step S1502, the main controller 128 operates the image processingapparatus 110 to create a changed image. As a result, the display unit126 displays an image obtained after the change processing based onchanged image data D′, which is obtained after the change processing,input from the display image processing unit 118 of the image processingapparatus 110.

At a step S1503, the main controller 128 judges whether the displayreset switch is pushed. When the display reset switch is determined tobe pushed at the step S1503, the processing is returned to the stepS1501. On the other hand, when it is determined that the display resetswitch is not pushed at the step S1503, the processing is returned tothe step S1502, and the creation of the changed image by the imageprocessing apparatus 110 is repeated.

When it is determined that the zoom operation is not started at the stepS1501, the processing advances to the step S1504. At the step S1504, themain controller 128 does not allow the image processing apparatus 110 toperform the change processing. That is, the main controller 128 allowsthe display image processing unit 118 of the image processing apparatus110 to directly output the input image data D to the display unit 126 asthe changed image data D′. As a result, the display unit 126 displays animage based on the image data D, which is not subjected to the changeprocessing, input from the display image processing unit 118 of theimage processing apparatus 110 as an image based on the changed imagedata D′.

At a step S1505, the main controller 128 judges whether the processingis terminated. When it is determined that the processing is notterminated at the step S1505, the processing is returned to the stepS1501. On the other hand, when it is determined that the processing isterminated at the step S1505, the processing is terminated.

According to this modification, after start of the zoom-in/out, theimage processing apparatus 110 is allowed to function until the displayreset switch is pushed. That is, even after stop of the zoom-in/out, theimage processing apparatus 110 is allowed to function until the displayreset switch is pushed. As a result, for example, the object of interestis moved to an end of the display area at the time of zoom-in, and thedisplay 126 displays an image subjected to the change processing likethe lower left view in FIG. 72 even after the zoom-in operation isstopped. According to this modification, the digital camera having theimage processing apparatus 110 can guide a user so that the object ofinterest can be placed within the display area even after effecting thezoom-in, for example.

15th Embodiment

A 15th embodiment according to the present invention will now bedescribed. Here, a difference from the first embodiment will bedescribed, and like reference numerals denote like parts to omitexplanation thereof. Although the example that the image processingapparatus 110 is applied to a digital camera has been described in thefirst to 13th embodiments, the image processing apparatus according tothe present invention can be used for various apparatuses that processimages including the object of interest without being restricted to thedigital camera.

For example, the image processing apparatus 110 according to each of thefirst, fourth, seventh, and 10th embodiments can be applied to anendoscope as an imaging apparatus as shown in FIG. 74. The endoscopeshown in FIG. 74 has an insertion unit 232 that is inserted into a bodyof a subject. A side of the insertion unit 232 that is inserted into thebody of the subject will be referred to as a distal-end side, and theother side of the same that is outside the body of the subject will bereferred to as a proximal-end side. An imaging unit 222 is arranged nearan end portion on the distal-end side of the insertion unit 232. Aportion near the distal end of the insertion unit 232 closer to theproximal-end side than a portion where the imaging unit 222 is arrangedis configured to freely bend by an operation using an operation unit234. This endoscope has a light source unit 236 to illuminate an imagingrange of the imaging unit 222. The imaging unit 222 is connected to animage signal generation unit 224. The image signal generation unit 224is connected with the image processing apparatus 110 having anobject-of-interest detection unit 112, a frame-out accuracy judgmentunit 114, a change value decision unit 116, and a display imageprocessing unit 118. The display image processing unit 118 in the imageprocessing apparatus 110 is connected to a display unit 226.

The imaging unit 222 converts a subject image formed by, e.g., anon-illustrated lens into an electrical signal by photoelectricconversion as an endoscopic image, converts this electrical signal intoraw data, and outputs the converted data to the image signal generationunit 224. That is, endoscopic photography is performed. The image signalgeneration unit 224 executes various kinds of processing based on theraw data input from the imaging unit 222 to create an image signal(image data) like the image signal generation unit 124 in the firstembodiment. The image signal generation unit 224 outputs the image datato the object-of-interest detection unit 112 and the display imageprocessing unit 118 in the image processing apparatus 100.

The image processing apparatus 110 operates like the first embodiment.That is, giving a brief explanation, the object-of-interest detectionunit 112 specifies a position of the object of interest in an imagerepresented by the image data input from the image signal generationunit 224. The object-of-interest detection unit 112 outputs thespecified position of the object of interest to the frame-out accuracyjudgment unit 114. The frame-out accuracy judgment unit 114 calculatesan accuracy that frame-out of the object of interest from an image rangeof the image displayed in the display unit 126 occurs and a directionthat the frame-out occurs based on the position of the object ofinterest specified by the object-of-interest detection unit 112. Theframe-out accuracy judgment unit 114 outputs the calculated accuracy anddirection that the frame-out of the object of interest occurs to thechange value decision unit 116. The change value decision unit 116decides parameters for change processing, e.g., a change region, achange type, a change degree, and others of the change processingperformed on the display image based on the accuracy and the directionrelated to the occurrence of frame-out of the object of interest fromthe display range input from the frame-out accuracy judgment unit 114.The change value decision unit 116 outputs decided parameters for thechange processing to the display image processing unit 118. The displayimage processing unit 118 performs the change processing with respect tothe image data D input from the image signal generation unit 224 basedon the parameters for the change processing input from the change valuedecision unit 116. The display image processing unit 118 outputs changedimage data subjected to the change processing to the display unit 226.The display unit 226 displays an image based on the changed image dataoutput from the display image processing unit 118.

At this time, for example, it is possible to adopt a configuration inwhich the imaging unit 222 has an imaging field angle of 180 degrees,the object-of-interest detection unit 112 specifies a position of theobject of interest by utilizing the field angle of 180 degrees and, onthe other hand, the display image created by the display imageprocessing unit 118 has a field angle of 60 degrees, and an enlarged,more detailed image is displayed in the display unit 226.

In this embodiment, like the first, fourth, seventh, and 10thembodiments and their modifications, the change value decision unit 116can set parameters of the change processing for various display imagesbased on a position of the object of interest in the display image or amovement speed. Further, the display image processing unit 118 can makevarious kinds of changes to the display image based on settings decidedby the change value decision unit 116 like the first, fourth, seventh,and 10th embodiments and their modifications.

According to this embodiment, an operator of this endoscope can operatethis embodiment by inserting or removing the insertion unit 232 to tracethe object of interest or bending the end of the insertion unit 232using the operation unit 234 while confirming the display imagedisplayed in the display unit 226.

Furthermore, the image processing apparatus 110 according to each of thesecond, fifth, eighth, and 11th embodiments and their modifications maybe applied to the endoscope according to this embodiment. When the imageprocessing apparatus 110 according to each of the second, fifth, eighth,and 11th embodiments is applied to the endoscope, a configurationroughly shown in FIG. 75 can be obtained, for example. In thisendoscope, the image processing apparatus 110 operates like thedescription of the second, fifth, eighth, and 11th embodiments and theirmodifications in the endoscope using the image processing apparatus 110according the first, fourth, seventh, and 10th embodiments. Any otherstructures are equal to those in the endoscope using the imageprocessing apparatus 110 according to each of the first, fourth,seventh, and 10th embodiments.

Moreover, the image processing apparatus 110 according to each of thethird, sixth, ninth, and 12th embodiments and their modifications may beapplied to the endoscope according to this embodiment. When the imageprocessing apparatus 110 according to each of the third, sixth, ninth,and 12th embodiments and their modifications is applied to theendoscope, a configuration roughly shown in FIG. 76 can be obtained. Inthis endoscope, the image processing apparatus 110 operates like thedescription of the third, sixth, ninth, and 12th embodiments and theirmodifications in the endoscope using the image processing apparatus 110according the first, fourth, seventh, and 10th embodiments. Any otherstructures are equal to those in the endoscope using the imageprocessing apparatus 110 according to each of the first, fourth,seventh, and 10th embodiments.

Further, like the first to 12th embodiments, the change value decisionunit 116, the effect decision unit 115, and the deformation parameterdecision unit 117 according to each embodiment can be combined toconstitute an endoscope.

16th Embodiment

The image processing apparatus 110 according to each of the first,fourth, seventh, and 10th embodiment can be applied to a microscope asan imaging apparatus as shown in FIG. 77. A microscope shown in FIG. 77is a microscope used for observing a sample installed on a moving stage332. This microscope has a light source 336 configured to illuminate asample and a stable position operation unit 334 used for moving themoving stage 332. An observer can observe an enlarged image obtained bythe microscope through an eyepiece lens 338 in a megascopic manner.

Furthermore, this microscope has an imaging unit 322 that performsphotoelectric conversion with respect to a microscope-enlarged image togenerate an electrical signal and converts the electrical signal intoraw data to be output to an image signal generation unit 324. Like theimage signal generation unit 124 in the first embodiment, the imagesignal generation unit 324 creates an image signal (image data) andoutputs it to an image processing apparatus 110 connected to thismicroscope. Like the example of the endoscope, the image processingapparatus 110 operates like the first embodiment. As a result, a displayunit 326 displays a changed image obtained after change processingassociated with an accuracy related to the occurrence of frame-out ofthe object of interest from the image range.

In this embodiment, like the first, fourth, seventh, and 10thembodiments and their modifications, a change value decision unit 116can set parameters of the change processing for various display imagesbased on a position of the object of interest in the display image or amovement speed. Moreover, a display image processing unit 118 can makevarious kinds of changes to each display image based on settings decidedby the change value decision unit 116 like the first, fourth, seventh,and 10th embodiments and their modifications.

According to this embodiment, an operator of this microscope can operatea position of the moving stage 332 using a stage position operation unit334 to trace the object of interest while confirming a display imagedisplayed in the display unit 326.

Additionally, the image processing apparatus 110 according to each ofthe second, fifth, eighth, and 11th embodiments and their modificationsmay be applied to the microscope according to this embodiment. When theimage processing apparatus 110 according to each of the second, fifth,eighth, and 11th embodiments and their modifications is applied to themicroscope, a configuration roughly shown in FIG. 78 can be obtained,for example. In this microscope, the image processing apparatus 110operates like the description of the second, fifth, eighth, and 11thembodiments and their modifications in the microscope using the imageprocessing apparatus 110 according to each of the first, fourth,seventh, and 10th embodiments. Any other structures are equal to thosein the microscope using the image processing apparatus 110 according toeach of the first, fourth, seventh, and 10th embodiments.

Further, the image processing apparatus 110 according to each of thethird, sixth, ninth, 12th embodiments and their modifications may beapplied to the microscope according to this embodiment. When the imageprocessing apparatus 110 according to each of the third, sixth, ninth,12th embodiments and their modifications is applied to the microscope, aconfiguration schematically shown in FIG. 79 can be obtained. In thismicroscope, the image processing apparatus 110 operates like thedescription of the third, sixth, ninth, and 12th embodiments and theirmodifications in the microscope using the image processing apparatus 110according to each of the first, fourth, seventh, and 10th embodiments.Any other structures are equal to those in the microscope using theimage processing apparatus 110 according to each of the first, fourth,seventh, and 10th embodiments. As a result, the same effect can beobtained.

Furthermore, like the first to 12th embodiments, the change valuedecision unit 116, the effect decision unit 115, and the deformationparameter decision unit 117 according to each embodiment may be combinedto constitute a microscope.

Moreover, the image processing apparatus 110 according to eachembodiment is not restricted to the imaging apparatus of, e.g., anendoscope or a microscope, and it can be applied to various kinds ofaudio visual systems or TV games. Additionally, functions of the imageprocessing apparatus 110 may be determined as a computer program, and acomputer may be allowed to perform the operations described withreference to each flowchart. This computer program can be stored in,e.g., a sustainable recording medium. The computer can read a recordedprogram from this recording medium and execute processing associatedwith this program.

Additional advantages and modifications will readily occur to thoseskilled in the art. Therefore, the invention in its broader aspects isnot limited to the specific details and representative embodiments shownand described herein. Accordingly, various modifications may be madewithout departing from the spirit or scope of the general inventiveconcept as defined by the appended claims and their equivalents.

1. An image processing apparatus which receives an image signal andgenerates a display image having an image range associated with adisplay area of a display unit from an image based on the image signal,the apparatus comprising: a position-of-interest calculating unit whichcalculates a position of interest as a position of an object of interestin the image based on the image signal; a frame-out accuracy calculationunit which calculates a frame-out accuracy representing an accuracy thatthe position of interest deviates from the image range based on theposition of interest and the image range; an alteration variabledecision unit which decides a processing variable of alterationprocessing performed with respect to the image based on the image signalin conformity with the frame-out accuracy; and an image alteration unitwhich performs the alteration processing with respect to the image basedon the image signal in conformity with the decided processing variableto generate a signal of the display image.
 2. The apparatus according toclaim 1, wherein the alteration variable decision unit includes a changeprocessing decision unit which decides a change region as a region wherechange processing is carried out with respect to the image based on theimage signal in conformity with the frame-out accuracy and a level ofchange of the change processing, and the image alteration unit performsthe change processing with the decided level of the change with respectto the decided change region of the image based on the image signal. 3.The apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the change region is adisplay image region concerning a position opposing the position ofinterest with respect to a center of the image range.
 4. The apparatusaccording to claim 2, wherein the change region is a display imageregion concerning a position apart from the position of interest by apredetermined distance.
 5. The apparatus according to claim 2, whereinthe change processing decision unit changes an area of the change regionin accordance with the frame-out accuracy.
 6. The apparatus according toclaim 5, wherein a type of the change processing is at least one offilling an image with color, increase/decrease in resolution,increase/decrease in sharpness, increase/decrease in contrast,increase/decrease in luminance, increase/decrease in chroma, and achange in a hue.
 7. The apparatus according to claim 2, wherein a typeof the change processing is at least one of increase/decrease inresolution, increase/decrease in sharpness, increase/decrease incontrast, increase/decrease in luminance, increase/decrease in chroma,and a change in a hue, and the change processing decision unit changesan amount of the increase/decrease or an amount of the change as thelevel of the change in accordance with the frame-out accuracy.
 8. Theapparatus according to claim 1, wherein the alteration variable decisionunit includes a processing decision unit which sets a change regionaround a representative point of the object of interest in the imagebased on the image signal in conformity with the frame-out accuracy anddecides processing for an image performed with respect to the changeregion, and the image alteration unit performs the processing withrespect to the change region of the image based on the image signal. 9.The apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the position-of-interestcalculation unit includes a contour extraction unit which extracts acontour of the object of interest, and the processing decision unitdecides the change region based on the contour.
 10. The apparatusaccording to claim 8, wherein the processing decision unit changes anarea of the change region and/or a level of the processing in accordancewith the frame-out accuracy.
 11. The apparatus according to claim 8,wherein the processing decision unit changes an area of a portionsurrounded by the change region in the image based on the image signalin conformity with the frame-out accuracy.
 12. The apparatus accordingto claim 8, wherein the change region and/or the processing changes withtime.
 13. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the alterationvariable decision unit includes a deformation parameter decision unitwhich decides a deformation parameter for performing geometricconversion with respect to the image based on the image signal inconformity with the frame-out accuracy, and the image alteration unitexecutes deformation processing including the geometric conversion withrespect to the image based on the image signal in conformity with thedeformation parameter.
 14. The apparatus according to claim 13, whereinthe geometric conversion includes changing a shape of a frame peripheralof the image in the image range.
 15. The apparatus according to claim14, wherein the geometric conversion is configured to shorten and deforma part of the frame of the image in the image range, and the deformationparameter decision unit decides a ratio of shortening the part of theframe in accordance with the frame-out accuracy.
 16. The apparatusaccording to claim 13, wherein the geometric conversion is conversionincluding shrinking a part of the image in the image range and expandingthe other part of the image.
 17. The apparatus according to claim 16,wherein the deformation parameter decision unit decides a ratio ofeffecting the shrinking and the expanding in accordance with theframe-out accuracy.
 18. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein theframe-out accuracy calculation unit calculates the frame-out accuracy inaccordance with a positional relationship of the position of interestwith respect to the image range.
 19. The apparatus according to claim 1,wherein the frame-out accuracy calculation unit calculates the frame-outaccuracy in accordance with a change in a positional relationship of theposition of interest with respect to the image range.
 20. The apparatusaccording to claim 1, wherein the frame-out accuracy calculation unitcalculates the frame-out accuracy in accordance with a positionalrelationship of the position of interest with respect to the image rangeand a change in the positional relationship of the position of interestwith respect to the image range.
 21. The apparatus according to claim 2,wherein the frame-out accuracy calculation unit executes: (i)calculating a first frame-out accuracy in accordance with a positionalrelationship of the position of interest with respect to the imagerange; and (ii) calculating a second frame-out accuracy in accordancewith a change in the positional relationship of the position of interestwith respect to the image range, the change processing decision unitexecutes: (i) deciding in accordance with the first frame-out accuracy afirst change region which is a region where the image based on the imagesignal is subjected to first change processing and whose area differsdepending on the first frame-out accuracy; (ii) deciding in accordancewith the second frame-out accuracy a second change region which is aregion where the image based on the image signal is subjected to secondchange processing and whose area differs depending on the secondframe-out accuracy; (iii) deciding the level of the change of the firstchange processing which is at least one of filling an image with acolor, increase/decrease in resolution, increase/decrease in sharpness,increase/decrease in contrast, increase/decrease in luminance,increase/decrease in chroma, and a change in a hue; and (iv) decidingthe level of the change of the second change processing which is atleast one of the filling an image with a color, the increase/decrease inresolution, the increase/decrease in sharpness, the increase/decrease incontrast, the increase/decrease in luminance, the increase/decrease inchroma, and a change in a hue, and the image alteration unit executes:(i) performing the first change processing having the decided level ofthe change with respect to the decided first change-region; and (ii)performing the second change processing having the decided level of thechange with respect to the decided second change region.
 22. Theapparatus according to claim 2, wherein the frame-out accuracycalculation unit executes: (i) calculating a first frame-out accuracy inaccordance with a positional relationship of the position of interestwith respect to the image range; and (ii) calculating a second frame-outaccuracy in accordance with a change in the positional relationship ofthe position of interest with respect to the image range, the changeprocessing decision unit executes: (i) deciding in accordance with thefirst frame-out accuracy the level of the change, which differsdepending on the first frame-out accuracy, of first change processingwhich is at least one of increase/decrease in resolution,increase/decrease in sharpness, increase/decrease in contrast,increase/decrease in luminance, increase/decrease in chroma, and achange in a hue; (ii) deciding in accordance with the second frame-outaccuracy the level of the change, which differs depending on the secondframe-out accuracy, of second change processing which is at least one ofthe increase/decrease in resolution, the increase/decrease in sharpness,the increase/decrease in contrast, the increase/decrease in luminance,the increase/decrease in chroma, and the change in a hue; (iii) decidinga first change region where the first change processing is performedwith respect to the image based on the image signal; and (iv) deciding asecond change region where the second change processing is performedwith respect to the image based on the image signal, and the imagealteration unit executes: (i) performing the first change processinghaving the decided level of the change with respect to the decided firstchange region; and (ii) performing the second change processing havingthe decided level of the change with respect to the decided secondchange region.
 23. The apparatus according to claim 2, wherein theframe-out accuracy calculation unit executes: (i) calculating a firstframe-out accuracy in accordance with one of a positional relationshipof the position of interest with respect to the image range and a changein the positional relationship of the position of interest with respectto the image range; and (ii) calculating a second frame-out accuracy inaccordance with the other of the positional relationship of the positionof interest with respect to the image range and the change in thepositional relationship of the position of interest with respect to theimage range, the change processing decision unit executes: (i) decidingin accordance with one of the first frame-out accuracy and the secondframe-out accuracy a first change region which is a region where theimage based on the image signal is subjected to first change processingand whose area differs depending on one of the first frame-out accuracyand the second frame-out accuracy; (ii) deciding the level of the changeof the first change processing which is at least one of filling an imagewith a color, increase/decrease in resolution, increase/decrease insharpness, increase/decrease in contrast, increase/decrease inluminance, increase/decrease in chroma, and a change in a hue; (iii)deciding the level of the change, which differs depending on the otherof the first frame-out accuracy and the second frame-out accuracy, ofthe second change processing which is at least one of theincrease/decrease in resolution, the increase/decrease in sharpness, theincrease/decrease in contrast, the increase/decrease in luminance, theincrease/decrease in chroma, and the change in a hue; and (iv) decidinga second change region which is a region where the image based on theimage signal is subjected to the second change processing; the imagealteration unit executes: (i) performing the first change processinghaving the decided level of the change with respect to the decided firstchange region; and (ii) performing the second change processing havingthe decided level of the change with respect to the decided secondchange region.
 24. The apparatus according to claim 8, wherein theframe-out accuracy calculation unit executes: (i) calculating a firstframe-out accuracy in accordance with one of a positional relationshipof the position of interest with respect to the image range and a changein the positional relationship of the position of interest with respectto the image range; and (ii) calculating a second frame-out accuracy inaccordance with the other of the positional relationship of the positionof interest with respect to the image range and the change in thepositional relationship of the position of interest with respect to theimage range, the processing decision unit executes: (i) setting a firstchange region around a representative point of the object of interest inthe image based on the image signal in conformity with the firstframe-out accuracy and decides first processing for an image performedwith respect to the first change region; and (ii) setting a secondchange region around a representative point of the object of interest inthe image based on the image signal in conformity with the secondframe-out accuracy and decides second processing for an image performedwith respect to the second change region, and the image alteration unitexecutes: (i) performing the first processing with respect to the firstchange region of the image based on the image signal; and (ii)performing the second processing with respect to the second changeregion of the image based on the image signal.
 25. The apparatusaccording to claim 8, wherein the frame-out accuracy calculation unitexecutes: (i) calculating a first frame-out accuracy in accordance withone of a positional relationship of the position of interest withrespect to the image range and a change in the positional relationshipof the position of interest with respect to the image range; and (ii)calculating a second frame-out accuracy in accordance with the other ofthe positional relationship of the position of interest with respect tothe image range and the change in the positional relationship of theposition of interest with respect to the image range, the processingdecision unit executes: (i) deciding the change region to change an areaof the change region and/or a level of the processing in accordance withthe first frame-out accuracy, and to change an area of a portionsurrounded by the change region in accordance with the second frame-outaccuracy; and (ii) deciding the processing for the processing regionbased on the first frame-out accuracy and the second frame-out accuracy;and the image alteration unit performs the processing with respect tothe change region of the image based on the image signal.
 26. Theapparatus according to claim 8, wherein the frame-out accuracycalculation unit calculates the frame-out accuracy in accordance with apositional relationship of the position of interest with respect to theimage range, and the processing decision unit sets a region indicativeof the positional relationship between the position of interest and theimage range as the change region.
 27. The apparatus according to claim8, wherein the frame-out accuracy calculation unit calculates theframe-out accuracy in accordance with a change in a positionalrelationship of the position of interest with respect to the imagerange, and the processing decision unit sets a region indicative of adirection of the change in the positional relationship between theposition of interest and the image range as the change region.
 28. Theapparatus according to claim 13, wherein the frame-out accuracycalculation unit executes: (i) calculating a first frame-out accuracy inaccordance with one of a positional relationship of the position ofinterest with respect to the image range and a change in the positionalrelationship of the position of interest with respect to the imagerange; and (ii) calculating a second frame-out accuracy in accordancewith the other of the positional relationship of the position ofinterest with respect to the image range and the change in thepositional relationship of the position of interest with respect to theimage range, the deformation parameter decision unit executes: (i)deciding a first parameter for the geometric conversion includingchanging a shape of a frame peripheral of the image based on the imagesignal with a direction and a ratio associated with the first frame-outaccuracy; and (ii) deciding a second parameter for the geometricconversion including shrinking a part of the image based on the imagesignal and expanding the other part of the image with a direction and aratio associated with the second frame-out accuracy, and the imagealteration unit performs the deformation processing including thegeometric conversion with respect to the image based on the image signalin conformity with the first deformation parameter and the seconddeformation parameter.
 29. The apparatus according to claim 1, whereinthe alteration variable decision unit includes a change processingdecision unit and a processing decision unit, the frame-out accuracycalculation unit executes: (i) calculating a first frame-out accuracy inaccordance with one of a positional relationship of the position ofinterest with respect to the image range and a change in the positionalrelationship of the position of interest with respect to the imagerange; and (ii) calculating a second frame-out accuracy in accordancewith the other of the positional relationship of the position ofinterest with respect to the image range and the change in thepositional relationship of the position of interest with respect to theimage range, the change processing decision unit decides a first changeregion in the image based on the image signal and change processingperformed with respect to the first change region based on the firstframe-out accuracy, the processing decision unit decides a second changeregion around a representative point of the object of interest in theimage based on the image signal and processing for an image performedwith respect to the second image region based on the second frame-outaccuracy, and the image alteration unit executes the change processingwith respect to the first change region of the image based on the imagesignal and performs the processing with respect to the second changeregion of the image based on the image signal to generate a signal ofthe display image.
 30. The apparatus according to claim 29, wherein thechange processing decision unit changes an area of the first changeregion in accordance with the first frame-out accuracy, a type of thechange processing is at least one of filling an image with color,increase/decrease in resolution, increase/decrease in sharpness,increase/decrease in contrast, increase/decrease in luminance,increase/decrease in chroma, and a change in a hue.
 31. The apparatusaccording to claim 29, wherein a type of the change processing is atleast one of increase/decrease in resolution, increase/decrease insharpness, increase/decrease in contrast, increase/decrease inluminance, increase/decrease in chroma, and a change in a hue, and thechange processing decision unit changes an amount of theincrease/decrease or an amount of the change which is the level of thechange in accordance with the frame-out accuracy.
 32. The apparatusaccording to claim 29, wherein the processing decision unit changes anarea of the second change region and/or a level of the processing inaccordance with the second frame-out accuracy.
 33. The apparatusaccording to claim 29, wherein the processing decision unit changes anarea of a portion surrounded by the change region in the image inaccordance with the image signal in conformity with the second frame-outaccuracy.
 34. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the alterationvariable decision unit includes a change processing decision unit and adeformation parameter decision unit, the frame-out accuracy calculationunit executes: (i) calculating a first frame-out accuracy in accordancewith one of a positional relationship of the position of interest withrespect to the image range and a change in the positional relationshipof the position of interest with respect to the image range; and (ii)calculating a second frame-out accuracy in accordance with the other ofthe positional relationship of the position of interest with respect tothe image range and the change in the positional relationship of theposition of interest with respect to the image range, the changeprocessing decision unit decides a first change region in the imagebased on the image signal and change processing performed with respectto the first change region based on the first frame-out accuracy, thedeformation parameter decision unit decides a deformation parameter forperforming geometric conversion with respect to the image based on theimage signal in conformity with the second frame-out accuracy, and theimage alteration unit executes the change processing with respect to thefirst change region of the image based on the image signal and performsthe deformation processing with respect to the image based on the imagesignal in conformity with the deformation parameter to generate a signalof the display image.
 35. The apparatus according to claim 34, whereinthe change processing decision unit changes an area of the first changeregion in accordance with the first frame-out accuracy, a type of thechange processing is at least one of filling an image with color,increase/decrease in resolution, increase/decrease in sharpness,increase/decrease in contrast, increase/decrease in luminance,increase/decrease in chroma, and a change in a hue.
 36. The apparatusaccording to claim 34, wherein a type of the change processing is atleast one of increase/decrease in resolution, increase/decrease insharpness, increase/decrease in contrast, increase/decrease inluminance, increase/decrease in chroma, and a change in a hue, and thechange processing decision unit changes an amount of theincrease/decrease or an amount of the change which is the level of thechange in accordance with the frame-out accuracy.
 37. The apparatusaccording to claim 34, wherein the geometric conversion includesdeforming a frame peripheral of the image by shortening a part of theframe of the image in the image range, and the deformation parameterdecision unit decides a ratio of shortening the part of the frame inaccordance with the second frame-out accuracy.
 38. The apparatusaccording to claim 34, wherein the geometric conversion is conversionincluding shrinking a part of the image in the image range and expandingthe other part of the image, and the deformation parameter decision unitdecides a ratio of effecting the shrinking and the expanding inaccordance with the second frame-out accuracy.
 39. The apparatusaccording to claim 1, wherein the alteration variable decision unitincludes a processing decision unit and a deformation parameter decisionunit, the frame-out accuracy calculation unit executes: (i) calculatinga first frame-out accuracy in accordance with one of a positionalrelationship of the position of interest with respect to the image rangeand a change in the positional relationship of the position of interestwith respect to the image range; and (ii) calculating a second frame-outaccuracy in accordance with the other of the positional relationship ofthe position of interest with respect to the image range and the changein the positional relationship of the position of interest with respectto the image range, the processing decision unit decides a change regionaround a representative point of the object of interest in the imagebased on the image signal and processing for an image performed withrespect to the image region based on the first frame-out accuracy, thedeformation parameter decision unit decides a deformation parameter forperforming geometric conversion with respect to the image based on theimage signal in conformity with the second frame-out accuracy, and theimage alteration unit performs the processing with respect to the changeregion of the image based on the image signal and executes deformationprocessing with respect to the image based on the image signal inconformity with the deformation parameter to generate a signal of thedisplay image.
 40. The apparatus according to claim 39, wherein theprocessing decision unit changes an area of the change region and/or alevel of the processing in accordance with the first frame-out accuracy.41. The apparatus according to claim 39, wherein the processing decisionunit changes an area of a portion surrounded by the change region in theimage based on the image signal in conformity with the first frame-outaccuracy.
 42. The apparatus according to claim 39, wherein the geometricconversion includes deforming a frame peripheral of the image byshortening a part of the frame of the image in the image range, and thedeformation parameter decision unit decides a ratio of shortening thepart of the frame in accordance with the second frame-out accuracy. 43.The apparatus according to claim 39, wherein the geometric conversion isconversion including shrinking a part of the image in the image rangeand expanding the other part of the image, and the deformation parameterdecision unit decides a ratio of effecting the shrinking and theexpanding in accordance with the second frame-out accuracy.
 44. An imagedisplay apparatus comprising: an image processing apparatus according toclaim 1; and the display unit which displays the display image generatedby the image processing apparatus.
 45. An imaging apparatus comprising:an image processing apparatus according to claim 1; and an imaging unitwhich performs imaging to generate the image signal that is input to theimage processing apparatus.
 46. An imaging apparatus comprising: animage processing apparatus according to claim 1; an imaging unit whichperforms imaging to generate the image signal that is input to the imageprocessing apparatus; and the display unit which displays the displayimage generated by the image processing apparatus.
 47. The apparatusaccording to claim 45, wherein the imaging unit has a zoom function. 48.The apparatus according to claim 47, further comprising a control unitconfigured to judge whether the imaging unit has started to exercise thezoom function and allow the image processing apparatus to execute thealteration processing when the zoom function has started to beexercised.
 49. An image processing method of generating a display imagehaving an image range associated with a display area of a display unitfrom an image based on an input image signal, the method comprising:calculating a position of interest which is a position of an object ofinterest in the image based on the image signal; calculating a frame-outaccuracy representing an accuracy that the position of interest deviatesfrom the image range based on the position of interest and the imagerange; deciding a processing variable of alteration processing performedwith respect to the image based on the image signal in conformity withthe frame-out accuracy; and performing the alteration processing withrespect to the image based on the image signal in conformity with thedecided processing variable to generate a signal of the display image.50. The method according to claim 49, wherein the processing variableincludes a change region which is a region where change processing isperformed with respect to the image based on the image signal and alevel of change of the change processing, and the alteration processingincludes processing of performing the change processing having thedecided level of the change with respect to the decided change region ofthe image based on the image signal.
 51. The method according to claim49, wherein the processing variable includes a change region around arepresentative point of the object of interest in the image based on theimage signal and a process for an image performed with respect to thechange region, and the alteration processing includes processing ofcarrying out the process with respect to the change region of the imagebased on the image signal.
 52. The method according to claim 49, whereinthe processing variable includes a deformation parameter used forperforming geometric conversion with respect to the image based on theimage signal, and the alteration processing includes processing ofcarrying out deformation processing with respect to the image based onthe image signal in conformity with the deformation parameter.
 53. Acomputer-readable medium storing an image processing program beingexecuted by a computer and configured to generate a display image havingan image range associated with a display area of a display unit from animage based on an input image signal, the program controlling thecomputer to execute functions comprising: calculating a position ofinterest which is a position of an object of interest in the image basedon the image signal; calculating a frame-out accuracy representing anaccuracy that the position of interest deviates from the image rangebased on the position of interest and the image range; deciding aprocessing variable of alteration processing performed with respect tothe image based on the image signal in conformity with the frame-outaccuracy; and performing the alteration processing with respect to theimage based on the image signal in conformity with the decidedprocessing variable to generate a signal of the display image.
 54. Thecomputer-readable medium according to claim 53, wherein deciding theprocessing variable comprises deciding a change region which is a regionwhere change processing is performed with respect to the image based onthe image signal and a level of change of the change processing inconformity with the frame-out accuracy, and generating the signal of thedisplay image comprises performing the change processing having thedecided level of the change with respect to the decided change region ofthe image based on the image signal to generate the signal of thedisplay image.
 55. The computer-readable medium according to claim 53,wherein deciding the processing variable comprises setting a changeregion around a representative point of the object of interest in theimage based on the image signal in conformity with the frame-outaccuracy and deciding a process for an image performed with respect tothe change region, and generating the signal of the display imagecomprises performing the process with respect to the change region ofthe image based on the image signal to generate the signal of thedisplay image.
 56. The computer-readable medium according to claim 53,wherein deciding the processing variable comprises deciding adeformation parameter representing information of deformation performedwith respect to the image based on the image signal in conformity withthe frame-out accuracy, and generating the signal of the display imagecomprises performing deformation processing with respect to the imagebased on the image signal in conformity with the deformation parameterto generate the signal of the display image.